Eunice's Alfa & Omega 2021/2022 End of Year Report

International Volunteer Program

The volunteer program continues to play a fundamental role at Alfa & Omega. Young people who come from around the world truly enrich the A&O community in Dénia and the daily activities that go on there.

Currently there are six volunteers (three boys and three girls) who hail from Germany, Cuba and Costa Rica. Bonnie and Tim Cook, missionaries from the US and the program coordinators, lead daily devotionals with the group as well as coordinate other events. Every two weeks, the volunteers participate in activities with the Dénia Trinity Church youth group.

On Mondays, the Cooks prepare a home cooked meal for the volunteers at their home and then four days a week, the volunteers receive Spanish language classes, taught by an Alfa & Omega teacher.

Eunice and Hugo are currently recruiting new volunteers for this coming Fall and feel that the current group they have is a gift from God as each volunteer is engaged and makes a special contribution to the Alfa & Omega community. We continue to pray for them and for those who will come in the future.

COLEGIO ALFA & OMEGA 2021-2022

This Year’s Theme:  “Happiness” - Matthew 5:1-12

EVENTS

Alfa & Omega Christmas Market

In the month of December, we held our first Christmas market at A&O with all profits going to support local and international missions. During the afternoon of 12/1, the entire A&O community enjoyed a special day on the first day of Advent that culminated with the lighting of the Christmas tree. That afternoon, we raised €2,741 for the following missions:

  • Dénia: Extiende tu mano (Lend a Hand) – Local Dénia food bank run by the Dénia Trinity Church

  • Cuba: Christian Pre-school in Cuba

  • Mozambique: Mission Project

  • Equatorial Guinea: Mission Project

 Alfa & Omega Week

In February continuing our theme of Happiness, we focused on developing the virtue of generosity with our students.  Accordingly we held the Lazos Project which supported the local Cancer association in Dénia. We raised €2,000, doubling our goal of €1,000.

 During the week of February 21-25 we held the following enriching activities and field trips:

  • The Dénia Rotary Club has established the Friends Club whose mission is to promote equality, respect, conflict resolution, companionship and friendship amongst the primary and secondary students of Dénia. Representatives from the Rotary Club came to A&O to inaugurate the program.

  • A21, a Christian anti-trafficking/human slavery association held a workshop with our secondary students.

  • The Mayor of Dénia, Vicent Grimalt, along with the Education Department head, Melani Ivars and Analyst Mar Mayans visited Alfa & Omega to review the campus and facilities, speak to the students and visit with the faculty and staff. During the visit, Pastor Elias from Dénia Trinity Church prayed for the distinguished group of visitors during an all-school assembly.

  • A&O Campus Cleanup – The entire student body dedicated a day to cleaning the forest, making repairs and taking care of where they spend the majority of every day during the week. The goal of this activity was to foster love for our campus and to demonstrate generosity through service.

  • A Day in the Bosque – In this team building exercise, students brought fabrics and ropes and each grade built “houses” and cabanas together as a team along the terraces of the Bosque. At the end everyone picnicked together.

  • Surprise Movie Day – A&O faculty and staff surprised both the primary and secondary students by renting out the entire local theater in what was a super fun day.

    In the end our overall goal through these activities is to create community, fraternity and teamwork.

TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

We dedicated the first trimester of 2022 to providing specific training for the families of our students and professional development for our faculty. Our teachers were able to take the courses they wanted to help stay on top of new trends and developments in their fields of expertise.

 For the families, we provided the following well-attended seminars:

  •  Will You Play With Me? – Lara Fuente Utor, a professional neurologist, gave a perspective from a neuroeducation standpoint

  •  How to Not Have a Perfect Family – A&O Head of School, Eunice Pastor Sendra

  •  Security – Local Christian Police, City of Logroño, Project Alexia

  •  The Head and the Heart – Psychologist, Isabel Rojas Estapé

  • First Aid – Dr. Marta Carrió Font

INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

  •  Erasmus+ Exchange – For the past three years we have participated in this EU-sponsored exchange program with the College of Rotterdam, NL, (Wartburg College). In March a team of administrators and faculty traveled to Rotterdam to visit the facilities and staff. Next June, our first group of fourth year secondary students will go to Wartburg for an end of year trip.

  •  Gummersbach Schule – This Christian school in Germany, with which we have been related for some time, received two of our students at the beginning of the Fall semester. They then sent a group of students to Alfa & Omega for a week in January where the German students participated in our classes, did common projects with our students and practiced their Spanish.

  •  New Partnership – In December, we established a new partnership with Oakland Christian School in Michigan, USA. We have already commenced with joint activities online and we are evaluating the possibility of sending a group of our students to the school next Fall.

INTERNATIONAL AWARD

  •  Goethe Institute - Award for Best Actors and Actresses - Our second year seconday students won the prize for Best Short Film. The team produced, directed and edited the film for a German class project.

 UKRAINE

Within days of the Russian invasion of this country, we asked our community for the basic necessities that people affected by war would need. Our fourth year secondary students sorted, organized and loaded the donated goods collected at the Hotel Costa Blanca into trucks heading for Ukraine. We continue to provide opportunities for those in the area who want to help as well as provide assistance to refugee families. We have welcomed two Ukrainian students into A&O classes  from a refugee family who landed in Dénia.

COVID-19

During the 1st trimester, there was not a single positive Covid-19 case in Alfa & Omega. This is a miracle!

In December and January, we vaccinated students 12 years old and under at the Colegio.  Unfortunately there were positive cases that we managed according to the guidelines of our public health leaders. Every Friday, we report the current status of Covid-19 at A&O to our families.

OTHER PROJECTS

  • From Head to Plate: Our students are participating in a city-wide cooking program, made available to all children by the Municipality of Dénia.

  • Orchard and school farm: We have begun a new orchard and farm school project this third trimester.

  • Formation Class: In December, Hugo and Eunice gave a teamwork and motivational class for the staff of the youth house of Dénia.

  • Prayer Time: •  Coinciding with Advent, all A&O staff were invited to a time of prayer in the Bosque. Thanks to the Lord for this time together with Him and these moments of adoration, praise and gratitude.

  • Bible Distribution: In May we distributed Bibles to all third graders coinciding with the time that several of them experience their first communion. Each child received a children’s Bible coloring book.

  • Middle School - As we reported towards the end of last year, we have created a new concept called Middle School where our professors work with our students in an intensive study of different topics. The latest topic was the Mediterranean. Here is the link to the site our students created: .

    https://middleschool02.wixsite.com/mediterraneo

  • Ball Pit/PlayPlace for Children: We installed a ballpit in the gym that was donated to us at the end of the last school year. It’s a play place filled with plastic balls (McDonalds-like) for 2 and 3 year olds. In addition, it is a great space for learning and motor development.

FACILITIES AND MAINTENANCE

As we mentioned in the last report, our planned maintenance program continues to expand. Some of our upcoming improvements are:

  • New streetlights in the pool, Bosque and the area in front of "The Home."

  • More efficient electricity use via zoning and automating the energy usage in the buildings.

  • Evaluating the possibility of installing solar panels due to the huge increase in energy costs. We are currently looking for grants and donations to finance the project.

  • Evaluating the possibility of zoning the water distribution on campus.

  • We have renovated the office of the reception of "The Home" by cleaning, painting and installing recycled wood floors.

  • Expanded security camera coverage to the Music Room.

FUTURE PROJECTS

  • Green House Project: We continue to dream of a learning space for personal growth using a Green House. A&O’s Board has approved this project.

  • Centos Collection: We have begun a new art project focusing on the processes of Illustration, writing, layout and printing.

  • Speech Therapy: We are studying the possibility of organizing a community wide speech initiative in which non A&O students could participate.

    We believe that our future growth depends on diversification and an openness to move into new areas. Continuing to develop the Alfa & Omega brand will help us expand and transform ourselves into an educational enterprise of the 21st century where we can provide a variety of different ministries to our students and the entire community.

THE HOME (formerly known as The Residence)

We continue to organize and improve the space of the sleeping facilities in the residence.

As mentioned before, we have renovated the reception area and added security to the bedroom corridors.  To gain access now, one receives a code which besides providing strong security, gives more independence to our guests since the doors are always locked now.

We have also updated our website with a special “The Home” section which outlines the responsibilities of our guests and allows online registration.

Since January, we have already received our first large groups since having to cancel all trips during Covid:

  • The German School: FCBG

  • Columbus Avenue Baptist Church

Here is a list of the groups that we are hosting this summer to help with our camps program:

  • Baylor University, Texas

  • Cabot Baptist Church, Arkansas

  • Dallas Baptist University, Texas