Ms Karina Galve Peritore
Reflections from the 2009 Toyota International Teacher Program to Costa Rica
First, I would like to thank Toyota, IIE and their staff members for this amazing International Teacher Program experience. I have always been aware of the importance of preserving our environment but after returning from Costa Rica, I feel responsible about teaching the importance of protecting our ecosystems and endemic species. To be able to see so many animals in their habitats (howler monkeys, birds, iguanas, etc.) has impacted my life forever and when I talk to people I convey my experience and my thoughts.
I am already explaining and teaching my students the impact human beings have on nature. I am bringing to my classrooms the knowledge acquired in Costa Rica about balancing environmental conservation with community development. I finished editing my video about Costa Rica and I have been showing it to my students. Some of my students could not believe that I was able to see different animals in their own environment, some of my students were amazed I saw animals such as howler monkeys, sloths, and a coati. I want my students at Columbia Public Schools to learn about international cultural and environmental themes, I want them to become aware that our community is part of the world and what we do in our surroundings has an impact on the rest of the world. I also want to instill in students an increased sense of responsibility and contribute solutions to environmental problems at the local level.
Learning about Costa Rica and its ecosystems has enhanced my ability to teach about some environmental topics. The lectures during the trip helped me to more deeply understand some topics I studied in the past such as, climate change and I finally understood how Carbon Dioxide is released from inside the Earth into the atmosphere. In Costa Rica there are some businesses that are environmental friendly, such as, Nature Air that offsets 100% of its carbon dioxide emissions by conserving tropical forests in the Osa Peninsula. If more businesses were at least recycling their waste we would reduce the number of dump sites and pollutants in our environment. From visiting schools in rural Costa Rica, I learned about the efforts to preserve their environment in a modernizing global society and to be sustainable at the same time. I was impressed how teachers incorporate field experience into their classroom curricula. I deeply enjoyed observing junior high and high school students explaining to us what they have learned about their ecosystems and how to preserve them. Students were also learning about ecotourism, they are being trained in different areas including protecting coral reefs.
In my own classroom, I began asking my students questions such as what happens once we cut down trees, where do the animals go when their environment is destroyed, and will they be able to survive. I am explaining to them the need of being respectful to our environment the importance of protecting natural areas and endemic species. I would like to implement a field experience of the area of environment in my school.
Students will learn about bird migration in Missouri during winter time; I will invite experts to explain in more detail some environmental topics. We will address the importance of programs where people adopt an acre or certain plants, the involvement of the community on this endeavor and the participation of NGOs. We will discuss that in Costa Rica there are national parks which are protected and some of our birds migrate over there. We will stress that we also have national parks in Missouri, such as the Mark Twain National Park; therefore we are interconnected with other countries since some of our birds migrate to spend winter abroad. We will emphasize on different ecosystems and explain to students that ecology is a sector of economy, I will explain that Costa Rica’s ecotourism is very important as an economic sector and that people visit Costa Rica because of the beauty of its national parks and where migrate birds spend time there. We will talk about some of the endangered species and the bird watching industry that we have in our country. We will also talk about the importance of protecting the endemic plant species and the problems that invasive species can do to the environment.
I hope Toyota and IIE will continue sponsoring this program for many years to come so many teachers will have the opportunity I had to learn about ecosystems in Costa Rica and bring back their experience to their classrooms.