I should have reviewed what I had already posted on my blog before writing this... oh well, enjoy it anyway!
It's the end of the school year, classes have ended, and it's still a few days before the graduations of the three high schools I work with. In between end of year reports and errands, I figured this would be a great time to update my blog. And I just realized that I have posted NOTHING about the 1st Annual Entrepreneurship Congress and the 10th Annual Entreoreneurship Competition, that I along with four other members of Team Emprende (that's what we call ourselves) has been working on since DECEMBER of last year!!!
A little background first. So as you know, I teach 5th year high school students entrepreneurship as part of the National curriculum. Every year, the Peace Corps works to culminate the efforts of the students and teachers by throwing a competition series (local, municipal, regional, and national competitions). I signed up last year to be part of the team that not only organizes the National Competition, but is also in charge of fundraising for it, and therefore also in charge of the Fundraiser Gala (that had traditionally been known as the Cocktail Party). We met throughout the year, worked on guidelines for fellow volunteers, raised funds through events and grants, and to celebrate the 10th! year of competitions, we decided to add a Congress to the Competition to encourage the students to think critically about their futures, and provide them with additional tools to convert their academic business into a lasting business if they choose to do so.We also invited 16 Distinguished teachers that have been teaching the Emprendedurismo course for 5 years or more and continue to do so without the aid of a volunteer to honor them for their work in making Peace Corps' work sustainable. Each took home a huge box full of goodies that they can use for their classes. (That might not seem like anything special, but in a country where the teacher must foot the bill for any and all copies, papers, markers, etc they use in the classroom, it was huge!!!)
In the end, the event was a complete success! Everything from the Gala Fundraiser to the Congress to the Product Fair where I got to guide the US Ambassador to Nicaragua Ms. Phyillis Powers from table to table, was professional and exceptional. I am extremely proud to have been part of the team that put this incredible event together, that made such a difference in the lives of the students and teachers that attended.
I won't be able to put up many pictures here, but we have a ton on our Facebook page: Emprendedurismo
Please check it out! I will post the few pictures I have that I was able to take before my camera broke.
Hope everyone is well and that they are making good choices! Love you all!
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| Check-In |
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| Decorated for Christmas |
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| Gingerbread Train |
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| The Courtyard |
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| Convention Center |
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| Team Emprende Members getting the Check-in table ready |
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| The conference space |
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| The big cheeseball modeling the backpacks given to the students |
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| Snack time before we start! |
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| PCVs checking in |
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| Hamming it up! |
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| Fellow PCV Julian with Bismark, a distinguished teacher from Matagalpa |
