Beehive School Science Fair

Two weeks ago the owners of a very well known private school in Xela stopped by the office to ask Mike if he would be the judge for their school's 4th grade science fair.  They had seen anotice of the   presentation Mike was to give at the Garibaldi Chapel on the cosmos and the importance of man, given the enormity of God's creations.  The Beehive School had been preparing a science fair with the cosmos as their theme, so he was a perfect fit.  We arrived at the school early and were offered a tour, which we gladly accepted.  We found the school to be absolutely delightful, beginning with this colorful upstairs classroom.

Each entrance was enchanting.  This is the "Flowers" classroom.

We found the children to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, but always well behaved.

What a pleasant environment...one that engages the students visually long before they enter the classroom.

One of the science classrooms.

An exquisite garden just outside the main entrance to the school.

The science fair consists of 27 students under this long row of blue umbrellas, poised and prepared to present their projects to the judges.

The school grounds are lovely and the mountain backdrop is gorgeous.

Each student presents his project verbally, including the hypothesis, experiments and conclusion.  

After each student's presentation, Mike poses scientific questions to the students on their selected topic.  This school teaches English  and the English teacher is standing behind Mike to translate .

The day was a little windy, so those with heavy projects were in good shape.  The flimsy ones were held together by the nervous parents.

The students give away object lesson/treats with their projects, so this little girl made gummy bear constellations to give away following her presentation.

These are the boys and husband of Michele, one of the school's owners.  This is typical Guatemalan motorcycle riding.  The boys on back have nothing to hang onto.

The students anxiously await the presentation of the three trophies and other prizes.

We were really impressed with the students' behavior and their ability to speak English.  By fourth grade they are pretty fluent.

These students are the future of Guatemala because they are getting an exceptional education in an exclusive private school.  There are hundreds of private schools in Xela because public schools don't meet a very high standard.  Xela's middle class all send their children to private schools.