High School Students Help Discover Mayan Royal Tomb
'Service Learning' Programs Prove to Teach Compassion and Drive Interest Amongst Teens Around the Country
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, November 11, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As part of a 'service learning' program, a group of high school students from Florida had the thrilling experience of excavating a 7th century Mayan pyramid complex that has been covered by jungle for over 1,000 years. This is part of a unique educational program available nationally called 'service learning,' which engages high school students to think globally and engage in community outreach around the world.
"These days there are so many negative distractions for teens, and coupled with lack of funding for education, news on the U.S. educational front is often disturbing," said Doug Tilden, President of Round the World With Us. "We have partnered with some amazing organizations around the world to give access to lifetime experiences such as the Mayan tomb project, which have resulted in a significant change in these teens' grades as well as their self esteem and better understanding of the complex global society."
Who are these kids?
Participants in the tomb excavation project included youth from the Flagler Palm Coast public schools in Florida who were at risk of dropping out before they began working with educator, Mat Saunders, in a special program where they learned about archeology. The program included excavating history in their home town of Palm Coast, as well as in Belize for the past seven.
What are the experts saying about this tomb find?
The excavation project resulted in an intact ancient Mayan Tomb with three royal burials. It was a significant historical find of artifacts that will help reveal parts of the Maya culture that had remained a mystery. The glyphs on a bone ring from the tomb (the first of its kind ever discovered) spelled out some of the answers along with spectacular jade jewelry, amazing pottery and over 1,000 jaguar teeth used as royal ornaments.
A flurry of papers were written and presented last month at Maya at the Playa, a professional conference on the Maya, by some of the top archaeologists and linguists in the field including Dr. Mark Zender of Tulane University and Dr. Jaime Awe Director of the Belize Institute of Archeology (the head of all archeological research in the entire country of Belize.) The discovery is so significant that research and further excavation will go on for years at the tomb site.
Another special service learning example:
This year students and community members from Davidson Day School in North Carolina, a huge proponent of service learning, team up with students at Succutz School in Belize for the following community projects:
• Getting a community together to renovate a school
• Created a library for kids who have no books
Just what did they do?
After a lot of hard work by the entire team, the students teamed up to re-roofed the Succotz School in Belize and are jointly publishing a book comparing the life experiences of sharing with the other school kids, as well as the experiences of learning from elders in each of their communities.
In addition, they organized a book drive to collect over 1,200 books, which were shipped to the Succotz school in Belize where a partnering non-profit set up the infrastructure to create a new library.
Who created this opportunity for our youth?
AFAR - American Foreign Research, led by Mat Saunders, with a mission to teach youth in the U.S. to conduct significant and compelling international research and excavation
Davidson Day School - A day school in North Carolina that focuses on service learning to prepare youth for tomorrow's challenges
Round the World with Us - A non-profit whose mission is to connect youth for the U.S. with youth from around the world for mutual learning benefit, and to support high impact community development projects
The endeavor of bringing American high school students to Belize has also had the ongoing support of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) with no less than five AIA members on site. The project also would not have happened without the strong support of Dr. Awe's Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance program.
How can educators get their own youth involved?
www.RoundtheWorldwithUs.org for resources on service learning and opportunities to connect American youth with those in foreign countries
www.AFAR.org AFAR is accepting a limited number of youth to participate in excavations next year
www.davidsonday.org to learn more about the school's educational philosophy or apply for admission
For media inquiries and images of the tomb excavation, please contact Wendy Ogunsemore at wendy@247strategies.com or 206-718-4382.
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