March 2021
Creating good news!

We empower school communities to trace a new trajectory of education towards a regenerative model,
through collective impact. The well-being and survival of humanity depends on it. 
Ed
Student
Empowerment
Literacy and Environmental Education Workshops
Literacy and environmental education workshops
Building bridges and strengthening the fabric of the community through education.

Third grade students from the Serapio Lopez Fajardo public school in Nosara, Costa Rica took a series of literacy and environmental education workshops that were held for six weeks within our Del Mar Academy educational laboratory.

Nosara school children have not only been affected by strikes and COVID 19, but also by floods. Today we celebrate what we can contribute to continue promoting quality education.Thanks to Efraín Aviles, Michelle Castro and Matilde Jiron, students of the Catholic University and teachers of Del Mar Academy for creating an excellent experience for the students.

Clean-Up Campaigns

Every month we clean the Nosara River Mouth in collaboration with students from Del Mar Academy, the Nosara Ecological Blue Flag committee and the support of the Nosara Hardware Store.

These efforts are essential to continue empowering communities to protect their natural resources.
Principals and Teachers
Empowerment
Guardian of Nature Principal & Teacher of
The Year Award 2020-2021
OBJECTIVE: To reward and make visible the agents of change in education for sustainable development in two modalities: principals and teachers within the province of Guanacaste (Nicoya, Santa Cruz, Liberia and Cañas).

We wish to learn more about the initiatives, efforts and participation of school principals and teachers, who work in the province of Guanacaste, who have been promoting and inspiring education for sustainable development in their communities.

The Nature Guardian Director and Teacher Awards 2020-2021 makes visible and rewards proactive, innovative principals and teachers with a real impact in the search for environmental solutions for the conservation of natural resources in their schools and communities.

Guardians of Nature
Free Educational Platform

We provide free educational tools and resources for sustainable development

Our free educational platform arises from our commitment to break any barrier to access the information necessary to educate new generations about the protection of natural resources. Find over a hundred interactive lessons on 12 environmental topics tied to core school subjects.
Expanding our platform: ESL resources enriched with environmental education created by teachers
As part of our teacher empowerment pillar, we are pleased to launch the 33 environmental education lessons created by 26 teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) from public schools in the province of Guanacaste.

These lessons fulfill three missions: 1. Strengthen ESL of children and young people from preschool to high school. 2. Do it through environmental education. 3. Be 100% linked to the curriculum of the Ministry of Education.

Our alliance with Profesores Unidos, led by ESL expert Laraine Altun, as well as the support of the Guanacaste Community Fund and the American Embassy in Costa Rica were key to the creation of these resources. You can download all the resources from our educational platform.
Collective
Impact
Regenerative Schools
Through Collective Impact
7 Public Schools in Nosara are in the process of becoming Regenerative Schools

We are coordinating the next steps to continue the path of converting 7 public schools in Nosara into becoming regenerative schools that will help transform their communities. During these planning meetings we collaborate with the school administration, the Blue Flag program coordinators, the education board, and private companies (who have adopted the school), as well as valued allies.

Currently in 2021, schools are in the stage of creating edible gardens, after creating a recycling and composting program in previous years. We are very excited to collaborate with the Nosara Food Bank and Harmony Projects to achieve this.

We are also preparing for the "Godparents" campaign to help strengthen the quality of education by supporting English teachers, propelling environmental and social-emotional education, as well as adding technological resources for the classrooms.
Guardians of Nature as cosponsors
of the Rafael Gallo Palomo Award

So that our Rivers reach the Ocean Healthy

It is a true honor to be a co-sponsor of the Rafael Gallo Palomo award. This Award was established by the National Alliance of Rivers and Watersheds of Costa Rica in order to recognize and encourage those people, activities, projects, programs, organizations, entities in general, who coincide with the Alliance in the defense and care of bodies of water, and particularly in order that our rivers reach the sea healthy.

With the name of the Award, a fair tribute is paid to Mr.Rafael Gallo Palomo, for his recognized trajectory in the defense of rivers, with important environmental fights in our country; founder of Ríos Tropicales 1985, author of “The Rivers of Costa Rica” 1988; member of the Explorer's Club of NY; Founder and Honorary President of the International Rafting Federation and International Consultant on Sustainable Development.

We mourn the recent death of Mr. Gallo Palomo, a person who contributed so much to our country.

Alliances and Fellowships


We joined the Alliance for Education of Costa Rica

We are excited to be part of the Alliance for Education. The members have a common purpose: to align the efforts in education promoted by the private sector and organized civil society to contribute to improve key indicators and scale the impact of their initiatives, contributing to quality education for everyone in Costa Rica through the contribution to generating an articulated and aligned educational ecosystem.


Support for the creation of indicators and impact measurement

We are very grateful to the team of the Education Research Institute of the University of Costa Rica (INIE) with whom we are collaborating to create indicators to improve the measurement of the scope and impact of our initiatives.

CUANTIX Fellowship

We are very grateful for the CUANTIX Fellowship, a grant we were awarded to continue improving the measurement of our social impact. The objective of CUANTIX is that large and small organizations can understand their impact on society. For this, they have designed technologies and processes that will allow them to understand holistically the role of their organizations in people's lives.
Communication for
Sustainable Development
Our message
in the media
Thanks to El Colectivo 506 and Katherine Stanley Obando for the interview with our executive director and co-founder of Del Mar Academy, Jessica Sheffield Zamora, about the role that private schools can play in creating bridges, sharing resources and creating impact in communities and public education system.
WISE - The Women's Initiative for Social Entrepreneurship Summit
Our executive director, Jessica Sheffield Zamora, was invited, along with four other women (representing the Arab world, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America) who were recently chosen as "Ashoka Fellows" (global network of social entrepreneurs) to share the ideas of systemic changes that they are leading with the theme "Voices of Women for a Transformative Change".

This is part of a summit promoted by the Women's Initiative for Social Entrepreneurship (WISE).

Links to previous newsletters HERE

VISION
To make Costa Rica a land of Guardians of Nature students, teachers and principals through a collective impact approach, and to promote our vision and strategy globally.

MISSION
To empower students, teachers and principals to be guardians of natural resources by providing free environmental education tools, fostering direct experiences with nature, and promoting green school campuses through the collaboration and collective impact of the government, the private sector and civil society.

We believe that schools can nurture a new generation of environmentally aware citizens who will propel the transition to a prosperous and sustainable future for all. Want to help us make that dream come true?