Yumbo, Colombia is January 2018’s Site Spotlight! Since kick-off, Yumbo has completed some of the following awesome activities:

Job Shadowing

In September 2017, students toured the Johnson & Johnson Manufacturing Plant in Yumbo, which is like a small city, to see how the professional world works. The facility has the normal administrative, marketing, or financial departments, plus an outrageous manufacturing process, a shop for employees and even a tennis court.  The largest mall in Cali sits within 2 km of the plant. Inside the largest supermarket of the region (La 14) a J&J Volunteer, Juan Pablo Ortiz, explained commercial aspects and the marketing  of J&J products. At the same time, he encouraged BTE students to commit to good habits: “Who thinks good relationships are important? Who believes a formal job and financial stability are crucial in life? Stand out and do the right thing!”

Parental Engagement & Community Service

A new building opened at BTE-Yumbo’s partner school in early 2017. BTE students advocated for green spaces and by mid-2017, helped build that space while tackling several other goals: regain morale after a national educational strike, commit parents within BTE, and to show BTE´s leadership at school. BTE students, teachers and parents worked as a team to plant ornamental trees and shrubs in September 2017.

Team-Building Trip

On a retreat, students started to work in their life projects & group community projects, in a learning community context. On September 28, 2017 they were developing their leadership skills, raising their motivation and selected their topics for a project in the 2017-2018 program