Patillas' public Montessori school shifts towards ecology

Three years ago you will remember the huge fire in the Amazon RainForest, Brazil. The fire, which lasted more than a month, was listed as one of the worst in the past 10 years in this area. Of course, we know that it has not been the only one and that they are becoming more common due to deforestation.

Perhaps one would think that this event has nothing to do with Puerto Rico, however, that event was the one that led the boys and girls of the Montessori school in Patillas to work on environmental spaces on their campus.

As the guide Teresa Santiago tells us, her students from Taller II (9 to 12 years old), arrived one day quite concerned about what was happening in the Amazon, to which she asked them how they would help in events like these.

The guide told them about pollination, and from then on the school took a turn.

They started with the theme of butterflies and the dream of having a butterfly farm. Some time later, the environmental project Sembrando Regresamos arrived to support the project's schools in the development of orchards, nurseries and a butterfly garden, giving them the opportunity to fulfill that desire and create awareness of the environment.

The environmental project started last year with 40 students, but its reach has surpassed the school campus. This project is found in 20 Montessori public schools such as Guillermo Reifkhol in Patillas, thanks to a collaboration between the Instituto Nueva Escuela and Para La Naturaleza, both non-profit organizations.

The school currently has eco codes, which help protect the school environment, nursery, pollinator gardens, orchard, compost, murals on the environment and a recycling project in development, and in each space there was participation of students, guides, assistants, families and neighbors of the school.

The guides Teresa and Valeria González, who are in charge of these initiatives in the school community, have been surprised by the love the students have for the land and each project. Something they have been able to see as result of these efforts, is the integration of the school community and the responsibility they feel for these projects.

They recounted how families and even coastal businesses bring buckets of organic material to school for students to create compost.

"I gave them a presentation of what could be part of the compost and the next day they brought me bags of cow and goat manure and I never imagined this," Valeria shared with a laugh, one of many experiences .

This year they hope to be able to reach more students and families, join turtle care initiatives on red lighting throughout the coast where the school is located, continue developing green spaces aiming to become an ecological school.

What began as a presentation last semester led them to observe the metamorphosis process of 37 monarch butterflies and then release them. This is one of the many purposes of special projects in Montessori public schools.