THE PIOUS SCHOOL, MY MEETING PLACE
PROVINCIAL PEDAGOGICAL DAY
Province Central America and the Caribbean
Marirrosa Carrera. Ministry Secretariat Schools Team
The first Pedagogical Conference was organized by the Team of Schools of the Piarist Ministry Secretariat of the Province of Central America and the Caribbean from April 9 to 11. The team was composed of Sonia Ferreyra (Coordinator) from the Dominican Republic, Marirrosa Carrera from Venezuela, Lissette Saavedra from Nicaragua, and Andrea Brenes from Costa Rica.
The central theme of the day was “School in Full Time,” with the aim of highlighting the actions being undertaken in the province’s Presences, their relationship with the Global Education Pact, and some good practices.
On the first day, Tuesday, April 9, Professor Marirrosa Carrera gave the opening words and introduction to the whole day, the Provincial Father led the prayer, and Professor Karina Miliante, Coordinator of the School of Piarist Educators, made an excellent presentation of the theoretical foundations of EFA. This first meeting closed with two good practices. Daniela Leal presented the experience of Santa Dorotea in the new Trastevere of Carora, touching the hearts of all the 90 participants connected. From Nicaragua, Lissette Saavedra, Bayardo Contreras and Allison Bonilla shared the experiences in the Presences of Leon and Managua with joy and optimism.
On Wednesday, April 10, the second day, Father General Pedro Aguado extraordinarily developed the relationship of the Global Education Pact with the Full-Time School in the Piarist context. His dissertation and reflections on identity, its challenges, and the construction of EFA impacted all 100 participants who managed to enter the meeting, filling them with hope and love for this possible dream: the Mission of Evangelizing by Educating.
On the third day, Thursday, April 11, two good practices were presented, one from Costa Rica, with an academic proposal that links formal education with non-formal and informal education. Another good practice was that of the Dominican Republic, showing the various activities carried out during extended school hours. To close this third meeting of the First Provincial Pedagogical Journey, there was a discussion moderated by Fathers José Miguel Suleiman from Venezuela and Adrián Guerrero from the Dominican Republic. Luis Sánchez from Bávaro, Fernando Mora from San José, Ruth Gutiérrez from Managua, and Geraldine Labarca from Maracaibo. In a pleasant, spontaneous and fraternal atmosphere, they shared how the EPT is developed under the management of the laity in the Presences of the Province. Father Javier Alonso, currently Rector of the University of the Pious Schools in Veracruz (Mexico), and Father Provincial Juan Serra participated in the farewell.
The three meetings were held in the afternoon through the Zoom platform. Each day, with a large attendance of between 90 and 100 participants, will receive certification endorsed by the University of Theology of Costa Rica.
These meetings have also brought together Piarist religious and collaborators from different latitudes to meet, recognize each other, and share knowledge, reflections, and good experiences. In addition, they enrich the exchange of learning and the much-needed reconstruction of the Global Education Pact.
The Full-Time School is an innovative proposal of Calasanz, a challenge assumed in each of the Presences. It is the bet for the construction of Community, the challenge to consolidate the Piarist Christian Community.
At the head of the schools, the cultural centers, the foundations, the groups of the Calasanz Movement, the social projects, and the coordination of the presences are the religious and lay people committed to the Piarist Mission. The unification of efforts and wills, living the vocation with passion, living life to the fullest, and having clear objectives, orientations, and goals; make possible that day-by-day things happen, make likely that the ordinary is transformed into something extraordinary; in short, make possible the dream of Calasanz.
