Charting a New Course

By Chrissie Long
Tico Times Staff | clong@ticotimes.net

Focused: Michelle Castro and Melissa Rodríguez take their special educational opportunity seriously at Palmares Bilingual High School.

Ronald Reyes | Tico Times

Though they had spent the last two years cramming for math tests, studying images of cells in biology class and perusing English texts (like many of their peers across the country), they also had been transforming a school, a community and, perhaps, Costa Rica's education system.

These 33 students overcame financial barriers, faced a somewhat skeptical community and navigated a new course to become the first public school graduates of the prestigious International Baccalaureate (IB) program, not just in Costa Rica, but in all of Central America.

Lilliana Lloyd, who was part of the team that brought the IB program to the country's public schools, said at the time of graduation ceremonies, “A success as great as was achieved in Palmares shows that if we give the best instruments, with well-trained teachers, improved infrastructure and access to a better international curriculum, young Costa Ricans will take advantage of the opportunity.”

For Palmares program coordinator Denis Guti--érrez, the accomplishment wasn't so much about being “the first” as it was about witnessing the change that took place in his students.

  The 14-year math teacher said, “We saw students who couldn't speak in front of audiences (early on) give engaging and articulate presentations two years later.”

  The students went to service projects and immediately impressed the community with their problem-solving abilities, motivation and responsibility, Guti--érrez said. In class, their answers were more analytical and thought provoking.

  “The transformation is not debatable,” he said. “We couldn't have asked for a better outcome.”

Even before the results of the IB final exam – which also serves to measure the success of Costa Rica's students in relation to their peers around the world-were released, Gutiérrez was pleased.

“We had accomplished what we set out to accomplish and I knew the work we did was excellent,” he said. “The parents gave

100 percent, the students gave 100 percent and the teachers gave 100 percent.

“As far as the exam? I thought, ‘What happens, happens.'”

But Gutiérrez was in for a surprise.

When he peeled back the fold of the envel ope containing the tests results, he learned that 33 of the 34 students had achieved the International Baccalaureate diploma. The magnitude of this accomplishment became apparent when Gutiérrez attended an international conference.

“People were seeking me out to congratulate the school,” he said. “They told me what Palmares had accomplished was unprecedented.”

  He said that worldwide statistics show that 80 percent of students typically pass the exam but, in the first year, the rate is closer to 67 percent, not even close to Palmares' 97 percent.

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