"Ten years building community, educating with the heart." Under this motto, the Colegio Agustiniano de Guatemala has celebrated its tenth anniversary, since its foundation in 2014. Since then, the school, which is located in the capital of the country , has gone from 90 students to more than 800, and has established itself as a benchmark in academic and spiritual education in Guatemala.
To commemorate this anniversary, the school organized a calendar of activities that began with the announcement of a new project: the construction of a building for the swimming pool, inaugurated last year. The central celebration took place on April 24, as it is the official date of the school's founding, with a special day dedicated to the center's first students. Commemorative activities were carried out such as masses, an official ceremony, and the creation of commemorative coins to remember this date.
In the month of August, the school held a youth rally as part of the festivities in honor of Saint Augustine, where students organized and participated in various activities focused on the anniversary. The celebrations culminated on September 4 with a closing ceremony, in which the students of the class of 2024 buried a time capsule. This capsule, which will be opened in 10 years, contains memories such as personal letters, a t-shirt signed by the students and a special message from the current rector of the school, Father Ángel Jahir Córdoba. As part of the event, an image of the Virgin of Candelaria was placed in the place where the capsule was buried, as a symbol of protection and spiritual guidance for the coming years.
Jenny Klée, elementary coordinator, shared her view on these first 10 years: From my experience, it has been an adventure. It is not common for schools to grow like this in Guatemala. We have been part of that openness and growth, of learning more about the Order and Augustinian pedagogy, and of proposing new things. The most beautiful thing is that we have been able to visit other countries and schools, which has shown us that what we do here is also experienced in other institutions.
For his part, Jorge Luis Peralta, academic director, highlighted the personal impact that his time at the school has had on him: Being here has been a transformative experience on a personal level. I never imagined everything we could build together, but the most special thing is that the values we promote at school are lived every day, in every corner. The sense of community, spirituality and commitment of everyone here make this place something unique, something real and very special.
Social networks also joined the celebrations of this anniversary with the creation of videos where current and former students shared their experiences and reflected on what it means to be part of this community and to have been trained with Augustinian values.
Looking to the future, Colegio Agustiniano de Guatemala has plans to continue expanding its facilities and reach more students and families but, above all, to continue fulfilling the same objective that they set on the first day, ten years ago: to train comprehensively to students from Christian values, inspired by the example of Saint Augustine.
Comments