Community

A Secondary School for Troncones

By Barb Lindlan and Jill Edwards. Photo: Warren Entner

Children EXCITED about going to school? You bet! It took four years of waiting but finally an application was granted by the Department of Tele-Secondary Schools for the establishment of a secondary school in Troncones.

The process began in 2001. In August of 2002 about fifteen eager students initiated the new school before there was a building to house it or grounds to put it on. Classes were first held in the community hall, then in various other temporary quarters and at times out of doors. Since that humble beginning, great strides have been made with the help of many people.

During the Christmas season last year students raised funds by entertaining residents and tourists with dance performances at different venues in our community. Those funds, along with donations left by good-hearted guests staying at our various Troncones inns, helped pay for the costs of surveying, clearing, grading and fencing the donated school grounds. With the assistance of our municipal government, a brand new classroom was built which opened its doors in August of 2005.

It is the proverbial one-room schoolhouse. There is one teacher, Señora Carmen González Heredia, and a roomful of 24 students in three different grade levels. As we write this, the school does not have electricity, bathrooms or any sort of shaded outdoor area. But you have to start somewhere and these kids are very glad to have an accessible school that provides them an opportunity to continue their education past the elementary school level. Be it ever so modest, it is a positive beginning and we hope to be able to garner support to help this long-awaited school get properly on its feet.

Once the school has electricity, the students will be able to participate in a satellite education program, a project the parents and the director are avidly pursuing.

For this season we have published a 2006 Troncones Calendar of scenic photos to help further the fundraising cause. All the photos in it were donated by generous photographers who have visited our beautiful beach. The calendar, which is getting great reviews, is available for purchase all over Troncones: Burro Borracho, Cafe Sol, Hacienda Eden, Inn at Manzanillo among other places; in several Zihua locations such as Rick’s Bar and Interiores Zihua and in Ixtapa at Lavender & Roses Day Spa, with hopes to be available in many more spots soon.

One hundred percent of the profits will go toward the cause.

It is hoped that the funds raised from this first edition calendar will assist the students’ parents to build bathrooms, install water facilities, and create areas for studying, eating and physical education activities.

Residents and their guests have rallied around this project and are purchasing calendars for themselves and as gifts for friends and family. We hope that this season’s tourists and returning visitors to our little bit of paradise will find them attractive, useful souvenirs and will also appreciate the cause they will be supporting by their purchase.

We would love to enlarge the circle of involvement to any persons who are interested in helping further the educational programs available to our village children. We would welcome the opportunity to talk with or provide tours of our schools for interested parties. We’ll also need more photos to go in next year’s calendar and hope the shutterbugs out there will keep that in mind.

We pulled together this project with the help and encouragement of an experienced Troncones fundraiser, Dewey McMillin. We’d like to thank him and also Marvyn Chabot who assisted us in getting the calendar printed and mailed out to early purchasers. With luck we hope to attract sponsors to help with the printing of next year’s calendar. It’s a great cause.

If you need assistance in locating a calendar, would like to preview the photos in it, or are interested in seeing the school, please e-mail either of us at the following:

E-mail: bellovista50@hotmail or edwardsmex@yahoo.com
(Please put “Calendar” or “Troncones School” in the subject line.)

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November 2005 Table of Contents