Honduran Teachers Visit Schools for 17th Straight Year

by Ronnie Zamora/LFCISD

For the last 17th straight year, Bessy Morales of Tegucigalpa, Honduras brought a group of teachers from her country to Los Fresnos CISD to learn everything they could.

Morales and five other teachers visited all nine of the district’s elementary schools to learn everything they could so that they could share their knowledge with their students in Honduras.

Retired Los Fresnos CISD teacher and administrator Dorothea Cole, their group’s inspiration leader, hosted the teachers at her home.

Bessy Morales Pacheco of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, visited Los Fresnos for the 17th straight year and brought four young teachers. The five teachers stayed at the Cole residence during their two-week visit.

The group attended in the school district’s Centennial Celebration April 16 at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium. They were recognized on stage by Superintendent Gonzalo Salazar, and Morales addressed the crowd.

They are part of the Friends United project, which has a website by the same name. The teachers from Honduras have a Facebook page Amigos Unidos Honduras.

Morales Pacheco brings different teachers every year from the Honduras Department (state) of Francisco Morazan to Los Fresnos.

“Our visiting teachers have seen a good example here in Los Fresnos,” Morales Pacheco said. “We have learned so much, and the Los Fresnos school district has always opened its doors to us. We have better schools in our country because of the help the Los Fresnos school district has provided.”

Cole used to travel with Bessy around Honduras and doing workshops but realized that it would be more beneficial if the teachers from Honduras could come to Los Fresnos and see how students and teachers interact over here. They plan materialized in 2000.

There are stipulations for teachers to visit Los Fresnos schools.

• Teachers must pay their own plane fare, and must pay substitute teachers out of their own pockets.
• Teachers must present workshops to their peers in Honduras upon their return to share what they learned.
• Teachers must return to Honduras upon completion of the program.

Cole houses between five and seven teachers each year. Their English is limited, but most Los Fresnos CISD teachers are bilingual, so communication is not a problem.

“We’ve learned a lot of things at each school,” Morales Pacheco said. “We’ve seen how dedicated each of the teachers are here.”

Morales pointed out some major differences in the education of the students in Honduras:

• Teacher supplies are limited. Teachers in Honduras have to buy their own teaching materials and supplies.
• Some schools do not have enough chairs for students. Many students have to sit on the floor.
• Breakfast and lunch is not provided for students. Some students do not eat lunch.
• Students have to find their own transportation to school. Teachers told stories about students who have to walk two miles through hilly terrain to and from school.