Traveling Library: Meet Isa, an outstanding kindergarten teacher!

Isa is a kindergarten teacher who lives and works in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala. She participated in the course on pedagogical reading and creative teaching methods offered to local teachers by the Puerta Abierta Library Open Books Program.

Her love of reading and having witnessed the power of books in children's lives motivated her participation in this professional capacity-buliding workshop.

She says the course deepened her understanding of the importance of book selection as the first step toward fomenting children's relationships with books and learning-- for the rest of their lives.

In the course, she also learned practical techniques about how to share books and how to use them as creative teaching aids. She enthusiastically integrated all she learned during the workshop into her daily class planning.

As a professional, she enjoyed the opportunity for the exchange of experiences and ideas with local educators who she normally wouldn't have had the opportunity to spend time with.

Isa became a teacher because she understands the importance of early education, where children either catch the spirit of learning at a young age-- or they don't.

She sees her role as two-fold: the chance to nuture generosity and community spirit with the children in her classroom, and the contribution each of those children will make in the community for the rest of their lives.