Crystal City-Pentagon Rotary Club Supports Honduras Independence Bilingual School (HIBS)
Friday, March 14, 2025
HIBS was founded by Crystal City-Pentagon Rotary Club (CCPRC) member Glen Evans through his charity Art for Humanity, which emphasizes helping those is need to become capable of independent living. Through their long-term partnership, CCPRC has supported several initiatives at HIBS, including supporting a new septic system, outfitting new classrooms with chairs and desks using a district grant, funding walls for the lunchroom and bathrooms, and securing donated laptops and other items for the students and school.
HIBS, located in Quimistan, Honduras, provides Pre-K through 12th grade students with standard academic courses while teaching English as a second language and imbuing the students with the values of independent and responsible living. Students from all income levels attend without differentiation by families’ wealth, with some students receiving financial assistance up to full scholarships provided by the school and individual donors. The school is run and staffed entirely by young Honduran teachers, themselves striving to perfect their use of English.
CCPRC members and their family members visit the school annually and have provided hundreds of volunteer hours over the years. These visitors attend classes to assist the teachers in their use of English and usually present classes of their own to broaden the students’ awareness of topics not in the normal curriculum. In February 2025, three CCPRC members and two non-members spoke to the students about how to make informed decisions, how to protect themselves from harm on social media, and how airplanes fly. They also organized the students to perform singing and dancing routines, which they showed off on the last day of the visits.
This long-standing relationship demonstrates how the magic of Rotary enriches cross-cultural relationships and provides ongoing support at the local level that is able to meet the specific needs of communities.
HIBS, located in Quimistan, Honduras, provides Pre-K through 12th grade students with standard academic courses while teaching English as a second language and imbuing the students with the values of independent and responsible living. Students from all income levels attend without differentiation by families’ wealth, with some students receiving financial assistance up to full scholarships provided by the school and individual donors. The school is run and staffed entirely by young Honduran teachers, themselves striving to perfect their use of English.
CCPRC members and their family members visit the school annually and have provided hundreds of volunteer hours over the years. These visitors attend classes to assist the teachers in their use of English and usually present classes of their own to broaden the students’ awareness of topics not in the normal curriculum. In February 2025, three CCPRC members and two non-members spoke to the students about how to make informed decisions, how to protect themselves from harm on social media, and how airplanes fly. They also organized the students to perform singing and dancing routines, which they showed off on the last day of the visits.
This long-standing relationship demonstrates how the magic of Rotary enriches cross-cultural relationships and provides ongoing support at the local level that is able to meet the specific needs of communities.