Fundacion RISE Universal Education Collective

RISE Universal Education Collective has found an innovative way to target educational inequities in the most underserved areas. We are currently piloting a project that serves 100 students with STEM enrichment in Pavas, Costa Rica, but would like to expand to a full-time program. Therefore, the funds, if granted, would help us develop the program foundations through curriculum development, community project development, educational resources, and educators to develop and implement each unit. Our current operations include one STEM teacher who is piloting a unit centered on change with 35 students from 7th-9th grade. She connects with the students virtually and visits our partner community center, Centro de Esperanza (HOPE Center) for 2 hours each day to meet with various students in person. The unit will culminate with a project that is centered in the Pavas community. Our goal  is to expand to other high poverty rural and urban areas and partner with other community centers internationally to bring tuition free high quality international education to the most underserved students.

My name is Dolka Vindas and I am and educational leader and the President of Fundación RISE Universal Education Collective (RISE UEC), a Costa Rican based non-profit organization and a rising leader in community-based education services. We envision a world where regardless of geographic location, every child has support and access to a quality international education. Our mission is to end systemic educational inequities through the intersection of social justice and sustainability by connecting students to global educators to strengthen their local communities. We educate virtually, engage and connect locally, and empower globally to build more just and sustainable communities. Goals:

1. Improve integrated Science, Technology, Engineering and Math application in local real world community settings. 

2. Improve English language acquisition (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) through English immersion with native English speakers and targeted humanities instruction

3. Empower students to take action to uplift their underserved community with a curriculum focused on sustainability, equity, and social justice

4. Build technology and digital literacy skills to foster digital citizenship and critical thinking skills

In the future, we want to partner with other community centers around the world to connect students and give access to a great education centered around social justice and sustainability. 

Districts like Pavas, Costa Rica, have high mobility, high poverty, low literacy rates, and low secondary education completion rates.  Nearly one quarter (24.5%) of all secondary students in Pavas drop out of school, the highest dropout rate in the country. When students drop out, the pull toward gang involvement, prostitution, and other crimes is nearly irresistible as a means to secure financial stability. 

 In response to the many challenges facing the region, centers like the HOPE Center address generational poverty through the empowerment of mothers, feeding of families, and access to a community-centered space with computers and internet.  RISE Universal Education Collective partners with these centers to give students the best educational opportunities. Goals of the project include student educational attainment, improvement of digital literacy skills, English language acquisition, and development of scientific thinking and other STEM related academics. Participation in the constellation of community, social, and educational supports provided through the RISE UEC project will lead to increased graduation rates and possibly college attendance. In turn, individuals will have greater economic viability and stability. 

The work at RISE Universal Education Collective is unique because we are re-envisioning education with the goal of meeting UN Sustainable Development Goal #4 Quality Education: first, we bring the best educators to the most underserved communities, next, we bring the best of virtual education (flexibility and personalized attention) to each student, additionally, we have a curriculum centered around social justice and sustainability and most importantly, we partner with community centers that are providing the essential services to help students thrive. As educators we know that students need to survive and feel safe before they can thrive. Traditionally, schools provide a lot of those services (food, health care, psychologists, mentoring etc) in addition to the academic and social/emotional support.  What we are doing differently is partnering with these centers who know their communities best and are already providing these services. In this way, we can use existing community support and bring an outstanding education to the students regardless of their geographic location. This allows RISE UEC to focus on connecting with each student, personalizing their academic growth, and help them to apply their skills in their communities with projects based on social justice and sustainability. 

We initially partnered with the HOPE Center to help them find Mathematics and Spanish tutors to help 5 struggling students with their assignments during the pandemic and school shutdown. Our current operations include one STEM teacher who is piloting a unit centered on change with 35 students from 7th-9th grade. She is connecting to students virtually and in person mentors at the center are facilitating the work in person. We are also supporting students in 10th-12th grade to help them complete their graduation requirements and find them suitable options for work and college education opportunities. With our youngest students we are working on English language development and foundational skills. Quality teachers are the number one reason for student academic success, yet most underserved communities do not attract the highest quality educators and education is the number one factor in breaking generational poverty. We have found a way to bring the highest quality educators to the most underserved communities while still working to ensure they are surviving and thriving and building essential relationships with adult mentors. The partnership between communities and educators ensures that we break the generational poverty cycle and provide educational access to the most needy students.