August 30 officially marks the beginning of Cozumel’s 2021-2022 Public School year. This will be a flexible school year that may involve distance learning, in-class options on selected days of the week and/or daily in school classes when schools are ready to accept students.
Some schools begin today with distance learning. Others will make decisions this week when classes may start. We anticipate it will take several weeks after their decisions to accomplish needed repairs, cleaning, and teacher preparation, etc. Schools have been vacant for 18+ months during covid. Some schools need to install all new water pipes, repair damage caused by storms and/or replace items that have been stolen.
Distributing school back packs and supplies is one of Friends of Cozumel’s major annual efforts to support education for youth in kindergarten through university. Our goal is to support approximately 550-600 students from families in need. We are taking a “just in time” approach to giving supplies this year so the timing will be delayed until mid-to end of September or perhaps later. We don’t want the school supplies to be lost or families tempted to sell them to ease their economic situation.
Distribution will follow covid safety protocols . . . require masks, safe distance, and may restrict distribution to 1 or 2 representatives from each family rather than all the students coming to receive their supplies.
Call for volunteers: We are looking for island residents and visitors who will be here in the general timeframe of September 17 to October 3 to help distribute supplies. The distribution will be organized in 2 or 3 hour shifts and completed in 2-3 days. We are now creating a list of potential volunteers. Please send your name and contact information (phone #, email or Facebook private message info) to one of the following: Nelly Cervantes, 987-107-2244 OR Larry Pedersen US cell: 515-249-9241 via WhatsApp or text; OR Karen Pedersen via email: pedersenkj@hotmail.com or Facebook private message.
Check back soon to learn about Friends of Cozumel’s scholarship program.