April 2020 Palapa Society News
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Get the latest updates on our response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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First and foremost, we hope this message is meeting you in good health. Our world has changed dramatically since our March 2020 newsletter, and programs at The Palapa Society are no exception to this change. We would like to update you on our response to the Covid-19 virus pandemic.
On March 13
th
, The Palapa Society Board of Directors called a special session to discuss our policies and recommendations for The Palapa School and our programs, taking into account the health of our students, our teachers and staff, and our local community. At this time, we had not received direction from our Federal, State or Local government, and there were no confirmed Covid-19 cases in Baja California Sur.
By law, The Palapa School is required to adhere to the guidelines established by
Secretaría de Educación Pública
(SEP), the Mexican Federal Government Department of Education. On March 17
th
, SEP announced that all schools, public and private, would be closed 2 weeks prior to the scheduled Spring Break to aid in lowering infection rates.
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The school closed on March 20
th
, and is currently scheduled to re-open on April 20
th
, after Spring Break. It was a priority to The Palapa Society Board of Directors to ensure the unexpected shut-down did not cause a severe financial impact on our paid staff and their families. Teachers have annual salary contracts, so their regular bi-monthly paychecks were not interrupted. Our hourly paid staff including our school Administrator, Custodians, Grounds Keeper, and Kitchen crew received their paychecks through the 2-week shutdown. We asked our custodians Monse and Alejandra to take additional shifts during Spring Break to continue deep-cleaning The Palapa Learning Center.
Our Palapa School students are continuing their education online. Director Juan Diego González is working with our Teachers to provide lessons, reading recommendations, and at-home projects via WhatsApp, since many students do not have access to computers at home.
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The Biblioteca Elena Poniatowska and Biblioteca Infantil closed on March 14
th
, and will re-open when we know it is safer for our community and volunteers to return. Naturally, our Librarians were very disappointed to postpone their March 21
st
benefit to purchase new books. So as not to disappoint our over 350 card holders, Director Donna Shultz is hosting a raffle for the stunning mosaic table donated by local artist Cate Thomassen. If you’d like a chance to win this extraordinary work of art, tickets are now available online at
tickets@palapasociety.org
(please indicate “raffle” on notes for PayPal payments) until midnight April 24
th
, MPT. The drawing will be held Saturday, April 25
th
, and you need not be present to win. Please note, The Palapa is not responsible for shipping.
The Puente (Bridge-to-English), Adult English and after-school Art programs closed the week of March 16
th
. Many of our dedicated volunteer teachers asked if they could continue one-on-one lessons with their students. However, we recommended that teachers and students follow the self-quarantine guidelines to stay at home and practice social distancing.
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How Is The Palapa Society Rising to the Occasion?
The Palapa Society continues to partner with other trustworthy non-profit organizations in Todos Santos and Pescadero that are taking proactive steps to minimize the spread and lessen the impact on our community of the COVID-19 virus. There is currently a critical shortage of basic supplies at our Todos Santos Centro de Salud, needed to protect both patients and staff. The Palapa Society has contributed $2,000 USD to The Padrino Children’s Foundation to support this fundraising effort.
Also, The Palapa Society is reallocating up to $10,000 MXN in un-used funds this month toward an emergency gas voucher program, for ambulances to take patients to La Paz or Cabo hospitals. If these funds are not needed, they will be returned to our account.
The Palapa Society Board of Directors continues to meet via conference calls and email. While we have suspended our regular communications with you, including fundraising campaigns, at this time, we have plenty of operational work to do, to keep The Palapa on track and moving forward.
Our hope is that our May 2020 newsletter will resume with regular updates, including contributions from our Palapa students in the
¿
Que Onda?
section
.
To receive timely updates on the status of The Palapa School, our Libraries, Programs, and community follow us on
Facebook
. As you’d expect, in the upcoming weeks you will see more posts about our community needs than about our students.
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For her birthday last month,
Susan Smith
asker her friends to donate to The Palapa Society in lieu of receiving presents. Thank you, Susan for this selfless, thoughtful idea to give back to our community!
Thank you to
friends of Donna Shultz -
Celia Biagetti
,
Nancy Stephens
,
Bobbi Siegfried
,
Barb Wiesley
,
Carol Alber
and
Peggy Rinehart,
who donated $200 to the Biblioteca Elena Poniatowska new book fund.
Kate Lewis, Director of The Palapa Adult English Program and owner of the Tecolote Bookstore
, provides an additional service by selling Event tickets at her bookstore. This season, Kate sold $12,235 in calendar and ticket sales. What would we do without her?
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Thank you to our monthly recurring donors who are a beacon of hope during this time of uncertainty.
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Andrea Sullivan
Andy & Connie Mical
Dr. & Mrs. William & Cathy Nation
Bonnie & AJ Johnston
Breanne Kiefner
Cheryl "Cheri" V. Myers
Dennis & Nancy Naigle
Donald Wiesley
Hal and Vickie Butler
Jane Gehring
Janna Kinkade
Jennifer Teeter
Jim & Kristen Bender
Jim & Patricia Cardillo
Karen Haley
Kim McKeen
Liane Collins
Linda Schwartz
Marsh Laird
Melanie Salyer
Dr. & Mrs. David & Nancy Lacey
Ms. Karen Haley
Rebekah Wood
Rome Chelsi
Tori Sepulveda & Oscar Rosales
Virginia Gollery
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Make A Difference in
a Young Life Today!
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Would you like to help our local youth and become a Palapa Society supporter? Click below to make your donation today.
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