The Royal Resorts Foundation gives scholarships to students at Colegio Mano Amiga, a school on the outskirts of Cancun. Our scholarship pupils, all girls, are now embarking on their second year of high school in a mixed class (Class 2A), and have dreams of becoming doctors and health workers, attorneys and engineers.
In addition to their regular curriculum, our students participate in extra-curricular activities such as arts, dance, sports and vocational workshops to give them more knowledge as they journey through life.
At the beginning of the year, the pupils were tested to identify the learning technique they use: auditive, kinesthetic or visual. A socioeconomic test was also carried out to discover whether they had access to internet or a printer at home and if not, the distance to the nearest stationary store or internet café.
The study revealed that none of the students have experienced serious problems such as domestic violence, yet some of them do come from broken homes. They get on well as a group and excel at teamwork. To expand their skills even further, in 2022 they began to follow a Cognitive Skills Development course supported by Ciudad de la Alegría, Fundación Lomas and Santander.
After the pandemic, teachers noted that the academic level had fallen in mathematics and reading comprehension and that pupils’ socioemotional development had been affected. To help them catch up, they are attending additional classes with three teachers and a fourth topic – financial management– has been incorporated.
The socioemotional program included sessions on deep breathing to help with anxiety management, knowing how to listen, problem solving, self-discovery, empathy and working together. As a result of this extra attention, staff have noticed a marked improvement in students’ communication skills, they have been able to confide in their teachers and express their emotions.
Several students such as Elsa Maria, Joshua and Cielo Maria consistently excel when it comes to grades, lesson participation and conduct.
Extra-curricular activities this year have included a chess tournament, a robotics course, an environmental education workshop on recycling followed by an eco-parade at which they exhibited the work they created with the art teacher.
All the students in Class 2A are eager to learn, hungry for knowledge and motivated by their teachers. Thanks to your donations, the Royal Resorts Foundation can continue supporting them.
