Scholars for Schools
Ambassadorial scholars and university students working on the new library
When I was awarded the ambassadorial scholarship in the spring of 2006, I was just finishing up my undergraduate degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Realizing that I had over a year-long wait before the start of my scholarship, I began to look for a job abroad. With the help of a past linguistics professor I found a position teaching English at a university in central Chile. Four months of university life from the other side of the podium not only gave me some great insight into Latin American culture, language and politics, but it also allowed me to establish some project ideas that I could pursue during my upcoming year as an ambassadorial scholar.
During my teaching experience one of the things I found alarming was the level of disparity among the rich and the poor. There is a small Chilean population that has capitalized on recent economic growth attributed to foreign investment and a thriving international market focused on the exportation of Chile’s resources including agriculture, copper, and wine. A quick “Chile” Google search will yield an impressive display of articles flaunting this economic growth, photos of booming seaside resorts, incredible geography and a country that appears to be economically stable, but the truth is that the vast majority of the country’s population is relatively poor and often relies on the cheap price of bread as a primary food source.
The stark disparity between the “haves” and the “have-nots” is highlighted in educational opportunities (or lack thereof). Unlike the educational system in the US, the difference between Chilean private and public school is nothing short of night and day. Private schools are only accessible to the small upper class population who can afford monthly payments equivalent to about $500 per child. They often focus on instruction in English, academic resources are plentiful, and the teachers have excellent credentials and training. Public schools, on the other hand, are just the opposite. Students come from shockingly low socio-economic backgrounds, teacher quality is mediocre at best, academic resources are extremely scarce, and violence and social risk are a part of every day life.
Unlike other scholarships and exchange programs that offer one year of study in a foreign country, the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship also encourages involvement in international humanitarian projects and is supported by thousands of Rotarians who are ready and willing to lend a philanthropic hand to a worthwhile cause. When I came back to Chile to begin the Ambassadorial Scholarship in February, I wanted to get involved with a project to help improve the condition of under-funded public schools that can’t offer children the same educational opportunities found at private schools.
Shortly after arriving I met three other Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars who are also studying at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Hannah Kelley, Nathan Gill, Susan Owen and I all sat down to discuss the possibility of developing an organization dedicated to improving academic resources in the poorest public schools in central Chile.
We began by visiting and interviewing the administrators at a dozen public schools both in urban Valparaiso and the outskirts of the city. We identified a group of kindergarten through eighth-grade schools that are in dire need of academic resources necessary for educational success. None of these schools, which each serve hundreds of children, have a library, a sufficient amount of text books, and they are also lacking in many basic educational materials and teaching resources.
After a month of meetings with Rotarians, social workers, and school administrators, we refined our idea and goals for this year and created a Chilean non-profit organization called Scholars for Schools. With the support from numerous Chilean and US Rotary clubs, two Chilean Rotaract clubs, and a host of university volunteers, Scholars for Schools will improve the access to educational resources through the construction of libraries and multimedia rooms in under-funded schools.
After collaborating with the teachers and the school administrators at our first recipient school, we decided to focus on supplementing the students’ required literature and transforming a large storage room into a fully functioning library with twelve computers for academic research and a large amount of age-appropriate literature. Two weeks ago we broke ground on the construction of the library that will serve nearly 300 K-8th grade students in Valparaiso. About 40 University students, teachers, Rotaract members, and scholars gathered to paint and make repairs in the room that will become the future library.
We have created a website www.scholarsforschools.org to publicize the project and keep people informed on our progress. We are also in the process of finishing a video which explains the organization in its entirety and will be uploaded to the website soon.
The success of Scholars for Schools is completely dependent on the donations from Rotarians and other individuals who are interested in helping improve educational opportunities in Central Chile. More information about the organization and how to donate can be found on the website www.scholarsforschools.org



