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What once was a dream is now a reality...
Guided Opportunities is officially a GO! After more than six years of dreaming, scheming and believing our founder Jeff Ball has put his plan into action.
We GO where the kids are.
GO is an activities program on wheels, with the aim of bringing after-school programs and continued education opportunities to communities around the globe. We are launching our first after-school program at a few different schools just outside of Juticalpa, Honduras.
Why Honduras?
After teaching in Honduras for a couple of years, Jeff was exposed to an ever increasing problem facing the public school system, the dropout rate. 15% of students do not complete their primary education and only 54% go on to enroll in secondary education. The reasons behind these statistics are many, but in Jeff's mind the goal was always the same: how to get students interested in their education and excited to come back to school?
"Originally, the idea was to use soccer to motivate students." - Jeff Ball
"Originally, the idea was to use soccer to motivate students." Jeff said, "but after discussing it with our co-founder Jake Koeppl, we realized that organized sports is a goal down the road. Right now many of the schools that are in need are in rural, hard to reach places, that often don't have enough resources for classes, let alone extra-curricular activities."
Jeff and co-founding partner Jake Koeppl wanted to engage the students in learning beyond the classroom. "There is so much value in activities based learning that goes beyond the academic." Jake expressed, "the goal is to engage the students in activities that grow intangible skills like, leadership, creativity, analytical thinking and problem solving. These types of activities are not only fun but the bolster self-esteem and personal satisfaction."
"There is no limit to what a we can achieve when supplied with the ever important tool of self-worth." -Jake Koeppl
Both Jeff and Jake were heavily involved in extracurricular activities while they were in school, from sports to theatre, to volunteering, their time outside the classroom was as important to them as their time in it. "There is no limit to what we can achieve when we are supplied with the ever important tool of self-worth" Jake said, "Theatre and sports really helped me learn who I was, within the context of a team and as a leader of a group. I loved the sense of accomplishment that came within those arenas!"
"With the students being engaged in an exciting, creative and personally constructive way, we hope to see improved attendance as well as pride in their education." -Jeff Ball
Jeff is also focused on students and their ability to dream. "We want to create a safe space for the students to play and have fun where they get to use their imaginations and dream. Our goal is to create that space and set aside that time so that the kids get a chance to do it."
In these schools the days are only five hours long with no lunch. Some of these kids go home and work on the farm, while others, unfortunately, wander the streets. "That is the other side of this coin, giving the students an after-school program so that they can learn, play and grow in a safe environment that will be a constructive use of their free time."
We have begun after school programs with the school La Escuela Lic. Ramon Sarmiento.
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