The Technical School Saint Agustine – Boys’ Town was the host of this meeting in which the management teams participated to evaluate and develop improvements in matters related to training, pastoral care, quality, child protection, solidarity and communication.
The Sections of the Vicariates of Mexico-Costa Rica and of the United States of the Secretariat of Educational Pastoral of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine met from November 11 to 15 in the Boys’ Town in Costa Rica to evaluate the fulfillment of the work plans developed by the Province and the Order.
These centers belong to the Educar Network, which brings together all the educational centers of the Augustinian Recollect Family in the world. In November 2023, this Network approved a whole series of agreements of general application at its VII Meeting.
The issues that have been evaluated include pedagogical, pastoral and human accompaniment aspects, which in each of the educational centers are dealt with by the different commissions into which the action of integral education of the students is divided:
- Formation commission: status of the formation plan on the Augustinian Recollect charism and Augustinian pedagogy, real situation of the teachers regarding the pedagogical use of new technologies and elimination of the digital gap.
- Pastoral commission: pastoral plan of each center, dissemination among the educational community of the pastoral plan, analysis of achievements and challenges. Experience of the program “The school in pastoral“, of the promotion of vocational culture and of accompaniment strategies.
- Quality commission: processes of self-evaluation of the center and quality certifications achieved, analysis of achievements and limitations. Exchange of experiences to improve quality.
- Commission for the protection of minors: compliance and enrichment of the protocols, action plan with schedule of activities.
- Education for solidarity commission: situation and relationship with ARCORES, the Augustinian Recollect International Solidarity Network.
- Communication commission: communication plan for each center, objectives and recipients, effectiveness and value analysis.
The meeting was attended by the management teams (religious and lay) of the Fray Luis de León School in Querétaro (Mexico), Saint Benedict Catholic School in Montebello (California, United States) and the institution that hosted the meeting, Boys’ Town.
Specifically, the religious Germán Marquínez and David Olvera and the general director, Consuelo Miranda, were present from Querétaro; the director, Anabelle Juárez, participated from Montebello; the Augustinian Recollects Jesús María Ramos and Eduardo Chávez, the assistant director, Hannia Cortés, and Josefa Guzmán, a member of the Board of Directors, participated from Boys’ Town; and the vicar of Mexico and Costa Rica, the Augustinian Recollect Martín Luengo, presided over the meeting.
In addition to the established meetings, the participants in this meeting had the opportunity to celebrate a Eucharist in the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Angels, patron Virgin of Costa Rica, participated in a presentation of the local culture and accompanied the educational community in one of the “Emmanuel” youth pastoral meetings”.
