Education

Three days a week, Pat teaches at New Life School, in Santa Maria de Jesus, about ten miles outside of the city of Antigua, sitting on the side of the dormant Agua Volcano.  

Founded in 2000 by Judy Kerschner, the school serves more than 100 special needs students from this traditional Mayan village.  Using special education techniques, Pat works with more than thirty of these children who are not making progress in the individualized, regular program at the school.

In addition, Pat is working to train the national teachers to use these specialized techniques in their classrooms to better serve the children they teach.  Currently, Pat is also mentoring a young man, Mauricio, who works in Pat's classroom in the morning, and attends the University of San Carlos in the afternoons to earn his teaching certificate.