How Escuela Cooperativa Began Part 2: Chicken Man!

Based on personal experience with our own boys and seeing so many young children in the streets and not in school, we liked the idea of starting a preschool.  Maybe it could be a cooperative like the school our sons attended where parents played a big part? But everyone here works so hard. How would that work? Maybe we could have two sessions, morning and afternoon to give parents a choice? Maybe we would offer both breakfast first thing in the morning and lunch for the afternoon session?

But wait, maybe we were making assumptions based on our limited experiences that don’t fit the needs here? And how do we do this given our limited expertise in the local language? In comes Chicken Man! One of our collaborators was a local whose family had lived in town for many years. Everyone knew “Tia,” so Roxy, her granddaughter, understood well how the community worked. She suggested that we, meaning she, should write a script for “Chicken Man” to broadcast throughout town announcing a community meeting to talk about our idea.

Unbeknownst to us, an important vehicle for getting the word out in Sayulita  was for someone with a recorder tied to the top of their car to drive up and down the streets playing a taped message in Spanish over and over for several days. For a dollar, a man who also sold roasted chickens on one busy corner in town would deliver our announcement throughout local neighborhoods for two days.  Ours wasn’t the only message, so we were never sure how often we heard it, but Roxy assured us that people were listening.

We held our first meeting at the community center in the heart of town the following Thursday evening. We got there early to set up chairs and sweep the floor. Roxy left work early and changed clothes in her car so she could translate our pitch and answer questions. Cap was also there to wave his arms and chase away the ever present Mexican birds whose loud squawking threatened to cancel out our hoped-for discussion. We set up 20 chairs and waited expectantly for interested parents to arrive. After 30 minutes, we decided to begin with the five parents who showed up. There were lots of questions and after an hour, they requested another meeting. In the end, we held biweekly meetings with increasing numbers for about six months. The meetings also started to attract local officials and educational experts who listened and helped explain and lend support to our ideas for interested families.

Many of our assumptions were turned upside down. The idea of a cooperative preschool didn’t make sense to most parents. What did it mean that they  would actively participate at the school? How could their skills help? Our idea of having two sessions, morning and afternoon, wouldn’t work because most parents had working hours that didn’t fit that model, and they also wanted an all-day option. An early morning breakfast wasn’t at all important in the local culture. Many simply grabbed a coke on their way out the door in the morning. Providing food around 11:00 might make sense. Since we were focused on three to five year old children, we suggested adding naps to the schedule. The parents said, “not at all necessary.” We learned quickly that we needed to gather more input and put aside our assumptions.

-Martha Casazza (Co-Creator of Escuela Cooperativa

---

Help us create more opportunities!

Please help us continue our distinctive approach to early education. Our tuition-free school is only possible through individuals like you who believe that early access to education and creating a family-based community around school is significant. You can support one child for a year with a donation of $1800 USD. Please visit our website to make a donation or set up a recurring monthly donation for $150 USD a month. Escuela is a not-for-profit organization (EIN 81-5475752), and all donations are tax deductible.

---

La Escuela Cooperativa de Sayulita is a collaboration of local families and educators to create an innovative pre-school for 3-5 year old children.

La Escuela builds on the natural curiosity of our students to develop a love of learning. We follow a Montessori-style approach: to help children learn independently, retaining the curiosity, creativity and intelligence with which they were born.

Each classroom is considered the “children’s house.” The teachers prepare and maintain the physical, intellectual, and social/emotional environment within which the children will work and play. This all works together to create an environment where the kids, parents and staff feel connected and invested.

Donate Now!

This email was sent to you by:

Martha Casazza

400 North Main Street, 411

Glen Ellyn, Illinois 60137

United States