The Neftalí Reyes Basoalto School, located in the town of El Tambo, in the commune of Vicuña, held an outstanding sports exhibition to host the Local Public Education Service of Elqui during Public Education Week. This is the anniversary of the promulgation of Law 21,040, which establishes the New Public Education System that restores education, from the municipalities to the state, through the creation of 70 Local Education Services (SLEP), distributed throughout throughout the country.
The school with its sports and environmental seal has 4 hours of Physical Education per week. Their students practice volleyball, basketball, futsal, handball, chess, athletics, cue ball, high jump, shot put, hiking, functional training, table tennis, badminton, karate, calisthenics, motor skills circuit for toddlers, yoga and aero yoga. . In handball they achieved first place in the community and second place in the province in the MINDEP School Sports Games in 2024.
The Director of the El Tambo School, Gloria Rojas He highlighted that they have had the sports educational seal for 12 years. “All sports disciplines have not allowed comprehensive development for our students, and at the same time, they promote a healthy coexistence. Therefore, we do not have great difficulties at the level of school coexistence, because with everything that sport provides at a regulatory level, of teamwork, it has allowed us to improve our school coexistence.”
The fourth grade student, Isidora Flores practice calisthenics, which “is having strength in your arms and being able to overcome obstacles. “I have more energy,” he says.
For its part, the sixth grade student Isabella González She has been practicing aero yoga for almost 2 years, reporting that it gives her discipline and relaxation. Regarding the benefits, he states that “we do aeroyoga and the postures that teacher Pili teaches us are therapy. We feel relaxed and confident with the fabric.”
He Executive Director of SLEP Elqui, Pedro Esparza Olivares He stated that “to vitalize the educational projects of each establishment, it is essential to do different things. Don’t keep doing the same thing as always. And we have seen it very well reflected in this sample that they did not make of different sports activities, which they carry out daily and that help the comprehensive training of boys and girls. That reinforce, through sports practice, all learning, and that generates a union and a close bond, which is what we observe between boys and girls, teaching assistants and parents.”
For a school to have a sports seal, it is necessary that its staff have a passion for this area, indicated the Head of the Municipal Education Department of Vicuña, Gabriel Pastén Tapia. “After the appointment of Dante Castro, a teacher of excellence in physical education, at the school, sports activities were restarted, with a history of sports and event teachers. “If we promote sport we can help children learn to respect rules, to be hardworking, supportive, and above all, to have a healthy life.”
Jerónimo Godoy Villanueva School of Pisco Elqui
The Jerónimo Godoy Villanueva School in the town of Pisco Elqui, Paihuano commune has the seal of learning to live together, practicing healthy living habits to form well-rounded people. They have a garden and CRA library. In their indoor gym they practice disciplines such as Futsal, in which they have been regional champions in the second cycle, with a team made up of members from various schools in the commune. They work with their support networks, which is the General Center for Parents and Guardians, the Neighborhood Council and CESFAM.
They are director Dorys Torres Ángel He explained that “we work involving the workshops with the students’ abilities and their interests. We have the school garden, sports, dance and yoga workshop. They are all of interest to students and also help them to have a comprehensive education. All teachers are concerned that when we talk about healthy living, it is not only food and exercise, but also the relationship with the environment, interpersonal relationships and healthy coexistence.”
He Head of the Substitute Municipal Education Administration Department of Paihuano, Pablo Elgueta Taquías He expressed that in this school “we develop a series of workshops that have to do with healthy living. We watched physical education class. We have soccer and table tennis workshops and we have the garden that we create in conjunction with the Neighborhood Council.”
From the tour to the Pisco Elqui school, the Director of SLEP Elqui Pedro Esparza He emphasized that “within comprehensive training, the formation of healthy habits occupies a very important place. One of the challenges facing the educational system is that new generations value physical activity, good nutrition and having a healthy lifestyle, because this allows for better development of their person and life projects,” he stressed.
SLEP Elqui will manage 115 schools, high schools and VTF gardens in La Higuera, La Serena, Vicuña and Paihuano, with an enrollment of more than 19 thousand students. In the commune of Vicuña there are 19 schools and 9 VTF kindergartens with an enrollment of more than 2,600 students. For its part, in the Paihuano commune there are 10 schools and 6 VTF kindergartens with an enrollment of more than 800 students.
