On Wednesday, June 12, about 70 outstanding ninth grade students (with one accompanying teacher per school) will have the third meeting of the U Scholarship Seedbed of the two municipalities, with the support of the mayors in transportation.
They will receive diplomas of Roll of Honor of 2023-II and 2024-I for academic performance at school and fulfillment of extracurricular duties in the U Scholarship Seedbed, an induction to the Karl Popper Debate Model and they will learn about the undergraduate offerings and the campus of the University of Magdalena. They will also visit a tourist-cultural site of Santa Marta.
This national program Color of Colombia Foundationwhich contributes to the comprehensive preparation of talents for quality higher education, arrived first in these two municipalities of Magdalena because El Retén was the native municipality of Jacobo Perez Escobarformer governor, judge of the High Courts and Secretary General of the National Constituent Assembly of 1991.
He Hotbed of U Scholarships from Zona Bananera and El Retén began on September 5, 2023, with the event “To the U: dreaming together”at the IE San Juan Bautista de El Retén, attended by the best eighth grade students, today in ninth grade.
That day, the pilos listened to the forensic doctor María Isabel Smith Rovira; to the graduate in Agricultural Sciences and MBA Alcibiades Hinestroza, national technical assistance leader at Cenipalma; to the Captain and helicopter pilot of the National Police Joe Valencia; and the lawyer and businessman José Tomás Moore Perea, as references for a professional life.
In “To the U: dreaming together”the students were able to listen out loud to Jacobo Perez Escobarillustrious son of El Retén and Magdalena, lucid at 98 years old, as an inspiration for them to set out to go very far in life.
The visit to the University of Magdalena
The first visit to a higher education institution will be an important experience in forming the preferences of future high school graduates.
The vice-rector of Extension and Social Projection, Álvaro José Méndez Navarro; the director of Social and Productive Development, Fabio Andrés Fernández Pintoand the assistant of this direction, Rovira Lopezhave been pleased with the visit of this group of excellent students from Zona Bananera and El Retén.
The University of Magdalena has one of the largest campuses in the region, it is the only university in Latin America internationally accredited as an Engaged University for its high quality and impact in the territories, and it received high-quality institutional accreditation from the Ministry of National Education, being the second public university in the Caribbean region to receive this distinction, in its own words.
Thus, the University of Magdalena is the first option of several in the country that the students of the U Scholarship Seedbed will consider when they reach grade 11, especially because the university of its department is interested in making agreements with municipalities, such as Zona Bananera and El Retén, to facilitate access for its high school graduates.
UniMagdalena has a wide offer of undergraduate degrees (around 30) in six Faculties: Educational Sciences, Business and Economic Sciences, Engineering, Humanities, Health Sciences and Basic Sciences, and has 120 international agreements.
What the pilos do in the U Scholarship Seedbed
In a training process complementary to that of the school, students carry out voluntary activities to strengthen cognitive and non-cognitive skills, with a view to obtaining a high score in Knowledge 11 and strengthening attributes of the being (and their cultural background), necessary for a project. of university life. Among the activities are:
- Answer two Saber 11 type questions online every day, from Monday to Friday, and those from the Semillero meet weekly at school.
- In Family: answer “20 family history questions” and prepare a new dessert with a recipe.
- In Mind: read the books “The devil of numbers”by Hans Magnus Enzensberger, and “Rebelion on the farm”by George Orwell, which strengthen general competencies for two Saber 11 subtests, participate in the Mathematics and Spanish Language Kahoot League, and create a personal account on Lichess.org
- Voluntarily participate in Karl Popper Debate Model (grade 9) or Model United Nations (grade 10).
- In Health (self-care): make an appointment with dentistry, optometry and nutritionist at EPS, and go jogging in a park or on the block.
- In Economic-financial mentality: answer “Financial education test”, download and familiarize yourself with the Trii app (to buy company shares with small amounts of money), collect your own funds, voluntarily participate in the national Millionaire Bag contest.
- In Culture: watch the two Wakanda Forever films, five recommended films, choose 20 songs by Joe Arroyo or Alejo Durán, participate in world days, such as Jazz Day, on April 30, or Nelson Mandela International Day, on the 18th of July.
In general, the students in the Semillero de Becarios U do things different from those at school, and they are mainly linked to a community with the purpose of reaching a good university, and to a national environment with quality educational tools.
Educational institutions invited to the program
Of the municipality of Banana Zone: IED Armando Estrada Flórez, IED Candelaria, IED Cerro Blanco, IED Ciudad Perdida, IED Humberto Velásquez García, IED José Benito Vives de Andreis, IED Las Mercedes, IED Rodrigo Vives de Andreis, IED San José de Kennedy, IED Thelma Rosa Arévalo, Sacred Heart of Jesus School, Domingo Savio Modern Institute.
Also the Departmental Ethnoeducational IE: Macondo, IE Tucurinca, Soplador, Rural Guillermo Álvarez Guamachito, Santa Rosalía.
Of the municipality of The Retainer: IE Departmental Roque de los Ríos Valle, IED Euclides Lizarazo and IED San Juan Bautista.
The educational project of Semilleros de Becarios U
The program of U Scholarship Seedbedsfrom the Fundación Color de Colombia, present in 30 municipalities in 11 departments, seeks, through a three-year process with students entering eighth grade, to develop a growth mentality, values of excellence and a vocation for service, character skills ( and socio-emotional), executive abilities and cognitive competencies for a university life project and social mobility that requires high results in standardized tests (starting with Saber 11, 365+ or passing the admission test of some public universities).
The program uses the strategy of early “meaningful learning experiences”, which strengthen personality, with training in cognitive and non-cognitive skills, seeking that after a long three-year process when they reach university they stand out naturally.
*Missionary tracer of this publication Color of Colombia Foundation: Strategic line 2: Quality and equity education. Program: U Scholarship Seedbeds, 2022-2026.
