Mission school ranks 2nd in Guatemala

By Father Jim Hazelton

A recent newspaper article here in Guatemala reported the rankings of municipios in relation to education – overall percentage of enrollment, percentage of those enrolling in first grade who finish high school, results of tests given to junior high students and the like. The evaluation was sponsored by USAID, the Guatemala Ministry of Education and other interested organizations.
In Guatemala, there are 329 municipios. The study ranked them from first to last – best to worst. The municipio ranking number one was Antigua Guatemala, the first capital and a renowned tourist center; Guatemala City, the present capital and largest city, ranked number three; Quetzaltenango, the second largest city, ranked number four. The municipio that ranked number two was Santa Maria Visitacion, where I “held forth” for 24 years.
I might have had something to do with that ranking.
When I arrived in the mid 1960s, Santa Maria had a grade school with the six grades, something very rare in rural, mountainous Guatemala. At the time there were a few sixth-grade graduates.
Our first project was a junior high school. To establish a junior high school at the time, in the form we wanted to establish it, and in cooperation with the national government and the municipio, we were required to have 15 students. We had only 10. A friend, and a dynamic teacher, Julieta Sanchez, rustled a few candidates from her home town, Solola; I had the facilities for dormitories for boys and girls; and we were in business. This was one of the first cooperative junior high schools in Guatemala.
Later I was able to invite the de LaSalle Christian Brothers to come to work in Santa Maria. Since I had a little influence with the Central American Superior, he responded by sending two Spanish brothers.
When we looked to establish a senior high school, our preference was for a “normal school,” a school for the formation of teachers. But our efforts were blocked by a national law that prohibited the establishment of new normal schools. The law eventually was repealed and LaSalle Santa Maria was born. The school has flourished for years and I imagine it has formed over 500 bilingual teachers.
I am very proud of my part in the educational efforts of the people of Santa Maria Visitacion. I am grateful to Julieta, who later was a victim of violence for her efforts to bring better education to the poor in Guatemala. I am grateful also to the de LaSalle Christian Brothers for the years they have been working in Santa Maria.
But HEY! I have another project here in Santo Tomas that I hope some day will reach the heights of Santa Maria. Our school, La Asuncion, has 600 students (in the equivalent of grades 7-9 and 10-12), with 100 girls in its dormitories. There is an excellent library; we have very good teachers; and over 300 teachers have graduated. The departmental supervisor of education has rated La Asuncion the highest in the Departmento of Solola – better than LaSalle Santa Maria!
And La Asuncion already has attracted some national notice.
The Guatemala Ministry of Education is trying to make reforms, among them requiring four years of preparation for teachers instead of the three years of high school now required. The reforms have met with strong resistance from the teachers and the normal schools and the teachers union. The Minister has backed down a little and said that there is an option: four years, or three years with the same curriculum, which would require extra hours and additional days and a longer school year.
Our school has opted for four years. The school presented its plan for implementing the new curriculum, and La Asuncion is the first school in Guatemala to have its plan approved.

Ed.: During the first 24 years of his ministry in Guatemala, Father Hazelton served the parish in Santa Maria Visitacion. Other priests were stationed at Santo Tomas la Union. When the diocese could provide only one priest, Father Hazelton moved to the Santo Tomas parish. The parish in Santa Maria is served by priests of the Diocese of Solola.
Donations always are welcome. Send to: Guatemala Missions, P.O. Box 1729, Helena MT 59624. If you are interested in assisting a student, contact Donna at 406-442-5820 or 1-800-584-8914.

Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 23, No. 6, June 15, 2007.