Beginning the 2023 Academic Year. Boys' Town. Augustinian Recollects. Costa Rica.

During the second fortnight of January, the acts of preparation and formation of the teachers, reception and special preparation of new students and the official act of inauguration of the new course for half a thousand students.

The Boys’ Town, a socio-educational project of the Augustinian Recollects in Costa Rica, has started the new academic year 2023  with good footing and momentum. To do this, during the month of January, even during the school holiday period, a whole series of activities has been carried out preparatory and training courses for the entire school community.

At the beginning of January, the members of the Maintenance, Administration and Coexistence which began all its preparatory functions for the new course. From  January 16, the teachers and workshop monitors that make up the Academic Area joined.

For one week, all adult members of the educational community of the Boys’ Town had a week of special training. They are going to serve half a thousand students in their comprehensive training and, therefore, will take care not only of their academic training, but also of their diet, rest, health, leisure, sports, cultural expansion…

Adult members of the educational community received motivational talks, training about the values of the institution and the Augustinian Recollect charism, tools to help the students in their behavior and some notions about institutional communication.

The week ended with a day of Augustinian spiritual retreat that combined recreation, playful learning, activities to improve teamwork and a Eucharist. The motto “Together” led most of the activities and the spirit of the meeting. The team of pastoral, made up of 23 people, was in charge of its preparation.

As of January 23, new students began to arrive, coming from all over the country. The day had many notes of emotion: the first entry into the institution, the first meeting with colleagues, the farewell to the family for a long time being, for many, the first time they will live outside their home.

The team of educators wanted to receive them with joy, with a large banner and accompanying them in their first steps in the City. In addition, the families were greeted one by one, they were reviewed documents, doubts were addressed and the consequences of the incorporation of each student into the City of the Children Family.

The following days various activities were scheduled to lighten the emotion of the farewells and promote mutual knowledge and coexistence that has just begun. In the gym, an official welcome that consisted of an opening prayer, the singing of the national anthem, the words of the director, the play “Your Life Adventure” performed by educators and various dynamics of integration and mutual knowledge.

The new students were also able to learn more about the internal dynamics of the City through a particular presentation of each of the work areas. The presentation day  ended with the singing of the City’s anthem and the distribution of groups and tasks.

Newly admitted young people have known these days of introduction to the life of the City details as important as the rules of discipline, respect, conduct and coexistence; the hygiene and grooming habits; the means to make the City a safe environment without any of abuse; internal communication channels and forms of conflict resolution.

On Tuesday, January 31, the solemn Eucharist for the beginning of the course was held, which was chaired by Juan Luis González, Augustinian Recollect President of the Provincial Secretariat of Education and coordinator of the EducAR Network in the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, entity owner of the Children’s City.

Then the entire educational community moved to the gym for the event of opening of the course There was time for speeches, theater, music and the joy of the reunions and the illusion of returning home to learn more and better.

The new students of the Agustiniano Technical College participated in a day full of sports and recreational activities: soccer, tennis, sack race, dizzy soccer, couples soccer backhand, chest on the ground, burned, basketball, relay, chest on the ground… The center of the activities was the annual motto “Together”, for which work activities were prioritized collaborative and integration, under the guidance of the Guidance Department.

The academic year has also started with the good news of the Polaris-Eduqatia for Educational Excellence for the Agustiniano Technical College granted by Mentora- Progressive. It is the second time that the Boys’ Town has achieved this recognition, which this year 37 educational institutions from all over Costa Rica have received. This distinction is granted when the students exceed certain standards of excellence focused, especially, on the continuous learning and educational technologies.