Thousand arrived at the Montessori Fest to celebrate Instituto Nueva Escuela’s 15 anniversary
Over 5,000 people participated on Saturday, March 2, in the Montessori Fest, an event that celebrated the 15 years of Instituto Nueva Escuela (INE) accompanying schools in the country's public system.
The event was held at the Bayamón Children's Central Park, a large party joined by hundreds of children from the 58 Montessori public schools, their families, community friends, donors and public figures.
Since 2008, INE has allowed the training of teachers in the Montessori methodology and accompanies school communities that opt for this educational alternative in their transformation process. After these 15 years, there are almost six dozen public Montessori schools in 29 municipalities around Puerto Rico, and more than 16,000 students and their families have benefited from the support of INE.
During the free activity, families were able to enjoy performances on stage by Hermes Croatto, Lee Conmigo, characters from Atención Atención, El Trotamundos, Sie7e, Los Mocosos and beautiful performances by students from the project schools. Walking through the park, you could see the joy, fun and variety of activities. About 24 collaborators were giving free workshops throughout the day. The children and young people learned how to play bomba and plena, how to make engravings, archaeology, how to plant crops, conserve species, recycle, how to prevent burns, yoga, reading stories and much more. In addition, everyone enjoyed good food from chefs Alejandro Vélez, Leo Mendoza and Ventura Vivoni.
“It filled our souls to be able to celebrate 15 years of work by INE surrounded by so much love and achievements through the stories of transformation of each school community. Saturday was a national celebration with friends, believers, allies and families who are convinced that an excellent school is possible,” shared Jennyffer Otero, executive director of INE.
Visitors had the opportunity to learn about the history of the INE through a tunnel built by students of the community design workshop of the School of Architecture of the University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras Campus directed by architect Elio Martinez and the schools of the project, who were present with an exhibition of their life line.
Local entrepreneurs and companies such as PenFed, Farmacias Caridad, Tote Maritime, Walmart, Holsum, Nuc University, First Medical, Liberty, Coca Cola, Able Sales were present offering their services and products.
This event was born from the desire of the Montessori public school communities to meet in the same place to embrace, celebrate, and enjoy as a community the achievements of the project. For the first time it was held last year in the municipality of Dorado.