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for all Newsletters |
March 2007 Volume X, Issue 2 |
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Articles Promesa School
Promesa School Fundraising Opportunities
The Promise of Education by Ron Shultz From Trough to Table and Back by Pres Nowlin |
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Although the Shultz family is involved in many areas of ministry
and service in Peru, one of the most vital is Ron’s (and often the
family’s) work with Promesa, Spanish for Promise.
The school is meeting one of the most pressing needs in Cusco,
especially among indigenous peoples, and the Peru Mennonite Church is
committed to long-term provision of educational opportunities. For ten years before Promesa was established in 2005, the church prayed for the birthing of a bilingual school with a strong Christian emphasis. The school began with a group of four and five-year-olds and determined to add at least one grade a year through high school. |
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As the school gears up to begin its third year in March, its growth is evidence of God’s faithfulness and the school’s commitment to the original vision.From a first-year staff of three, Promesa will begin this year with a full-time staff of nine! Ron Shultz and two other teachers will be responsible for English instruction. Student enrollment is up from fifty-two last year to eighty this year in pre-school, first grade, and combined second and third grade. It is not surprising that the school has “maxed out” the church facility, and because of its own growth, the church needs some of the space currently used for classrooms. |
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The name “Promesa,” besides meaning “Promise” in English, is
also an acronym for “PROgrama Menonita de Educacion en Sabiduria y
Amor (Mennonite program of education in wisdom and love).
From all indications the school is living up to its name.
Each teacher provides quality instruction in his or her first
language, and the school also values and reinforces the Quechua
language, the first language of many students.
To meet individual learning styles, the staff uses various
methods in teaching core subjects and also provides computer
education, music, art, and drama.
Perhaps as important as academic excellence is Promesa’s vision of home, school and church working together “to provide a clear and unified message that will strengthen the character, purpose and identity of each child.” Here is a school dedicated to preparing students for further study or a career while grounding them in Christian faith so “they will live a life of love and service.” There can be no higher vision or calling for a school. By Carolyn Nowlin |
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