Project Sarapiqui — A Student’s Perspective
Ali (Grade 12 / Coon Rapids Learning Center) Originally published May 2004Two teachers from my school recently went to Costa Rica. While they were there they visited one of the poorest regions of the country, Sarapiqui. They found a Conservation Learning Center, which is an open and free secondary school, similar to our school, the Coon Rapids Learning Center. There are high schools in Costa Rica that many students can’t attend because of the cost of uniforms, books, and transportation. Once the kids in Costa Rica are twelve and have completed the sixth grade, they cannot attend high school unless they can pay the two-hundred and fifty dollars a year, for five years.
The students at Coon Rapids Learning Center believe that every one deserves an opportunity for education. So some of my classmates and I have started a fundraiser to sponsor one student to go to high school for five years. Our goal is to raise $1250, that would provide all the materials needed for one student. So far we have raised over seven hundred dollars. We did that by putting together a day at our school, March 11th [2004], where students could leave early if they donated two dollars. We also have a loose change jar located in our schools. In addition, we have sent letters to many businesses, and have contacted the Chamber of Commerce.
Not only are we trying to raise money, but we are also requesting donations of school supplies. This April eight students are going to Costa Rica, and we are trying to send at least fifty pounds of school supplies with each of them, to be donated to the Sarapiqui Conservation Learning Center. We have received a lot of donations and hope to meet our goals.
Some of my classmates and I intend on going to Costa Rica in the fall to meet the student we will sponsor. We are planning to keep this fundraiser going for years, and hopefully sponsor a student every year.