Working with Volunquest was a very rewarding experience. I highly enjoyed being with the kids on the fine island of Isla Mujeres. I loved the culture and the people there and I think part of me will always belong to the island. As far as the program goes, things had a rough start. The supervisors Heather, and Rania, were very helpful and supportive and went out of their way to make our time in the schools successful. Unfortunately, the first several days of our experience were confused and challenging because the expectations were not clearly given by management. It was frustrating to be working so hard for the kids on the island and not to know entirely what was expected of us. It seemed, at least at the beginning, that the manager did not have time to be truly present and to give us the information we needed to be successful. The supervisors were not given the correct information either. After perhaps 3 days of floundering and not knowing entirely what we should have been doing, we were provided with the curriculum and the precise expectations that Volunquest had of its teachers. From there things became exponentially better and far more rewarding. It was much easier to teach in the schools when we had a standardized plan to do so. Heather and Rania made this experience successful for me. I think I have said more than once to my classmates on this trip that "Heather is a saint." She was very patient with all of my questions and concerns and helped me to reach my full teaching potential. Although Kristen is a very intelligent and driven woman and her work on the island is invaluable, she was intimidating and demanding at first. I think this was as much a learning experience for her as it was for us. I hope she too learned how to teach others and that this experience will cause other people's experiences to be more fruitful.
What would you improve about this program?
The program could be improved by having more detailed "nitty-gritty" training days before we are sent to work in the schools. In addition, I would say it could be improved by a more openness between management and volunteers and having clear expectations for the get go.
Response from VolunQuest
Sarah, we are so happy to hear about your positive experience in our program and on the island. We too agree that Isla is a place that you visit once and will return many times after. We also agree that a longer training is more beneficial to the volunteer. In the normal 4-week TEFL Certification program, we have a full one-week training and for the following three weeks there is constant teaching supervision in the schools. Unfortunately, when we do the group program with the University of Maine, the volunteers are here for a shorter period of time. We realize this stood as a challenge when your group came, so we have since worked with the University of Maine to improve the program for everyone. As we are entering our fifth year working with the university, the group now only comes for a short two weeks. In this two-week period, the university has expressed they would like for the teachers to have as much time in the classrooms as possible. In order to make this happen, they have agreed to offer the in-depth training beforehand and then we offer the access, guidance and supervision to enter in the schools. They complete this pre-training in a semester long course where they will pre-plan lesson plans and go through the National English Curriculum. We believe this agreement is beneficial for everyone because the volunteers will feel more prepared and they will gain the teaching experience necessary for their course work. We feel fortunate to have a great working relationship with Professor Julie DellaMattera to collaborate and make the experience better for both sides.
We are happy to share that over the last several years, our English book collection has grown immensely due to the generous donations of tourists who travel to Isla Mujeres as well as the incredible support from the foreign resident community. It has grown so much that we will be opening a public library in the new Project Rescate community center opening this fall, which is part sponsored by VolunQuest.