Accomplishments Through the Years
June, 2014: Terry and Dave spent a week at Geovanni Calles (GC) working with the students, teachers and meeting parents. Discovered that there is NO special education training or teaching in the entire country and NO supplies for the school. Expectation: count to 10 & write name by the end of High School. Went home and with the help of my family, created Cotinga Foundation on 11/1/14.
June, 2015: 1st Cotinga Foundation Team: 3 Teachers, 2 Music Therapy Students, 3 Support Staff and the Meyer family. Worked at GC all week. Worked with students in the mornings and presented seminars in the afternoon. Held a parent meeting.
June, 2016: 2nd Cotinga Foundation Team: 7 Teachers, 2 Speech Pathologists, 3 Support Staff and the Meyer family. Worked at GC all week. Worked with students in the mornings and presented seminars in the afternoon. Held a parent meeting. Construction team (Bob & Matt) raised funds for concrete work for ramps/construction.
March, 2017: Terry and Dave visited the Federation of Intellectual Disability in Quito. We were invited to visit his special education school. Started a partnership with them and GC. Worked with the staff at GC to get their input on progress and needs for the upcoming June trip.
June, 2017: 3rd Cotinga Foundation Team: 8 Teachers, 2 Speech Pathologists, 1 Support Staff and the Meyer family. Took some of the staff of GC with our team to visit Eina, a special education school in Quito. Spent the week at GC modeling lessons in the mornings/seminars in the afternoons. Held a parent meeting. UDAI met with Terry/Dave to discuss Cotinga and possible partnerships.
March, 2018: Terry and Dave visited UDAI, the Inclusion division of the Ministry of Education. They asked us to create a two-day seminar for the June trip for teachers from all over the region. Hosted a lunch for GC to ask input for June trip.
June, 2018: 4th Cotinga Foundation Team: 7 Teachers, 2 Speech Pathologists, 1 Occupational Therapist, 4 Support Staff and the Meyer family. Presented an Inclusion Seminar over two days to 185 teachers, representing 100 schools. Spent many days at GC working with the teachers, students and parents. In the name of Cotinga, an electrical team (Bob and Matt) raised their own funds and rewired the entire school.
March, 2019: Terry and Dave presented a seminar for 40 counselors and directors of Inclusion Program from all over the region. Hosted a lunch with GC to get input for the June trip. Worked with UDAI to plan seminar for June trip. Attended a presentation by Natalia Jarrin, a middle/high school asking us to present an inclusion seminar for their teachers.
June, 2019: 5th Cotinga Foundation Team: 8 Teachers, 1 Speech Pathologist, 1 Vision Therapist and the Meyer family. One day Inclusion Seminar for teachers from over 100 schools. 1 day teaching seminar for Natalia Jarrin for 80 teachers of all subjects. 2 days with GC students and teachers. Two days with GC as they hosted Archidona school from Tena. We modeled how teachers teach other teachers.
July, 2019: Terry and Brenda invited to attend the graduation ceremony for the 1st graduating class of GC where they received an adapted diploma. First special education school in the whole region.
March 17, 2020: Terry and Dave visited UDAI: many requests, decided: Concentration on Preschool Seminar (100 schools: teach diagnosis & preschool special education), Seminar for Inclusion Supervisors (12: representing 30 schools).
March 18, 2020: Pandemic started, we left on the last plane out of Ecuador, didn’t get to see GC.
June, 2020: Trip cancelled. No school throughout Ecuador.
September, 2020: Team in Ecuador created care packages for the teachers & delivered them.
June, 2021 Trip was not planned, since still no school in Ecuador. Schools closed 3/20-3/22.
January-March, 2022: A new special education school built one hour away from Cayambe. UDAI sends the new principal and teachers to visit GC to learn about Cotinga Foundation training. Teachers at GC taught the other teachers. Successful, so a new school went to GC a 2nd time. They presented a plaque to GC for the training GC provided. Circle is complete.
March, 2022: Terry and Dave visited UDAI: a new director, but continued the plans for Inclusion Supervisor Seminar and Preschool Seminar. GC lunch resulted in a list of curriculum items to create.
June, 2022: 6th Cotinga Foundation Team: 9 Teachers, 1 Speech Pathologist, 1 Vision Therapist, 5 translators hired in country, plus Vice Presidents in Ecuador: Dave (Cultural Liaison), Brenda (Hospitality), Orlando (Transportation), plus Bob (team support). Protest of indigenous people started Monday so only a few students). Some teachers couldn’t attend. The rest walked daily. In-depth work with individual teachers. Preschool Seminar was cancelled, Inclusion Seminar held. Bob & Orlando reconstructed 42 chairs at their own expense. Great Escape occurred on June 16th, 2022.
September, 2022: Graduation: their first ‘Swearing to the Flag Ceremony’ with an adapted diploma. Dave asked to attend, present pins in the name of Cotinga. Two GC teachers spent summer using Cotinga ideas to modify/adapt state curriculum for the High School students. Cotinga (through Dave & Brenda) printed/bound curriculum, since the country will not help & the parents can’t afford it. Possibly the first adapted special education curriculum in the country, which gives an adapted diploma leading to employment.
June, 2023: 7th Cotinga Foundation Team: 5 Teachers, 1 Vision Therapist, 8 translators hired in country, plus Vice Presidents in Ecuador: Dave (Cultural Liaison), Brenda (Hospitality), Orlando (Transportation), plus Bob (team support). School has grown to 158 students, due to the new diploma. New rooms being built. Met in the classrooms in the morning to model reading, behavior and answer questions. Make it-Take it sessions in the afternoon as they created supports for their own classroom. Preschool Seminar for 30 teachers that had never had ANY teacher training at all. Inclusion Supervisors and UDAI attended every session. Cotinga is still supplying the ONLY special education training in the country.
March 2024: 8th Cotinga Foundation Team, the 1st time in March. 4 teachers this year used our expertise: behavior, vision, adaptability, autism, high school curriculum. Theme was ‘There is a purpose for everything’ to connect the classroom to their lives. UDAI met with us throughout the week to ask questions that can be used throughout the 30 schools they work in. Terry/Dave led a preschool seminar for 25 teachers that came from many areas. Many new teachers came for training. Several students lives changed through vision therapy. Celebration for World Down Syndrome Day: Cotinga was recognized by high ranking officials. Three teachers retired this year from Geovanni Calles, including Galo, who first allowed us to visit in 2014 and made Cotinga Foundation possible.
2025 and beyond: Continue our relationship with UDAI to effect change throughout Ecuador.