COMMUNITY OUTREACH

At Del Mar Academy we earnestly value our community and want to be a center for positive change. Through our vision and efforts, we strive to provide our school population with the motivation and the means to improve themselves and their communities.

We are in a continuous process of expanding the service learning projects and our community service committee, so that we can instill volunteering and community outreach as integral and essential components of our educational curriculum.

We believe that students learn the importance of giving back by volunteering their time and talents. The community service experience builds character, shows leadership, helps others, and prepares children for life.

Some examples of our outreach projects:

Community Committee:

Provided 54 local students from 6 local public schools with backpacks, school supplies and uniforms.
Donated $1000 to purchase backpacks for the Serapio Lopez students and assisted with their distribution.
Sponsored 21 low income family pets and street dogs to be spayed/neutered in conjunction with Safari Animal Clinic and Nosara Animal Care.
Organized the “Children Nicoya Symphony” concert for the community of Nosara.
Donated 685 books to the Kitson Library.
Organized several yard sales to help the community of Nosara with affordable clothing, books and toys.

Environmental Committee:

Helped the Serapio Lopez School, Santa Marta School and Los Angeles School attain the Ecological Blue Flag, a national eco-label.
Organized “Community Days” to improve the infrastructure of the following public schools: Santa Marta, Serapio López y Liceo Bocas de Nosara.
Supported the “Barri-Guiones” reforestation program by helping plant more than 300 trees on Guiones beach.
Sponsored the transportation of local school children so that they could participate in the “BarriGuiones Resforestation Program”
Organized several annual beach and community clean-ups.
Created a children´s campaign against littering. The campaign includes a play, a song and a drawing contest. This campaign has been shared with several public schools in the area. We plan to expand the program nationwide in the future.

Scholarship committee:

Sponsors local “Nosareños” to attend Del Mar Academy.
Sponsors local children to attend the “Escuelita de Verano” or Summer School Program for the public school children.
Donations of clothes and non-perishable foods to the Nosara Red Cross

Other contributions:

$500 donation toward the construction of the Nosara Recycling and Education Center.
DMA has hosted the Kitson Library Fundraiser play for several years.
DMA has hosted the Nosara Sustainable Expo for several years.

Del Mar community outreach featured in our local newspaper:

DMA Delivers School Supplies in Nosara Area

“Starting February 28, Del Mar Academy community service committee (CSC) start delivering supplies and clothes to children in need to the schools of Nosara, Santa Marta, Garza, Esperanza, Santa Teresita, Los Angeles and Delicias.
The committee is helping more than 50 children in the area of the “Gran Nosara" from 7 different schools. Thanks to all students and parents of DMA that made this effort become possible”.

Record High $8,000 Raised for Kitson Library at Dinner Theatre Fundraiser

“A record 150 people attended the 14th annual fundraising evening for the Biblioteca David Kitson, raising a total of $8,000 for the community library of Nosara. “That is our highest amount ever,” said Beverly Kitson, Library Director, who was instrumental in founding the library in 1996. The annual event raises about one third of the library ‘s total annual operating budget.”

“The play was performed on February 27 and 28 at Del Mar Academy in their open air theatre”.

“Quartet Tugs at Nosara’s Heart Strings”

After years in the waiting, Nosarans finally got a chance to watch and listen to classical music in a live, open-air concert at the Del Mar Academy this past Saturday January 5th. The results were a resounding applause and a new appetite for classical arrangements”.

“Green” Expo Teaches Sustainable Practices While Mixing Cultures”

“This past Saturday December 8th saw the 2nd year of the Sustainable Nosara Exposition, a gathering of artisans, educators, performers and the community to support and reaffirm sustainable practices and products which make Nosara the Eco-Mecca it has become”.

“Community Day Cleanup Targets Nosara High”

"Almost a hundred volunteers, armed with enthusiasm and donated materials from Lagarta Lodge Hotel and Surfing Nosara Foundation scraped, sawed, sanded, scrubbed and stained many of the visible surfaces of the high school".

“Since 2010 we've been helping the schools to become part of the Blue Flag Ecological Program,” said organizer Jessica Sheffield Zamora. “After working with Del Mar Academy for the past five years to bring them into the program, we put the same thing in place to help the Nosara High School have a chance to get one as well. We achieved so much there (Del Mar Academy), so why keep it to ourselves?”

Important Book Donation in Nosara

“During the last couple of months, through an initiative of the Community Service Committee of Del Mar Academy and a group of girls who live in Barcelona, 685 books in the Spanish language have been collected, selected, imported and donated to the Kitson library in Nosara. The majority of these books are for children and adolescents, and about 85 are for adults.”

“Serapio López School Shines Like New”

“On Saturday, May 5th, students, teachers, parents, members of the community and volunteers from the United States gave a new look to Serapio Lopez Fajardo School in Nosara”.

Symphonic Sounds in Nosara

“Music will be reverberating through the streets of Nosara next month when the Nicoya symphony comes to town. A free performance has been organized by the community service committee of Del Mar Academy to bring cultural events to Nosara”.

“Circo del Mar” Arrived to School Serapio Lopez

“On June 14th Del Mar Academy students shared their talent show, “Circo Del Mar” with the Serapio Lopez students. The show, which originally debuted on April 15th at Del Mar Academy’s campus, was inspired by the environmental theme for the 2010-2011 year – Water Conservation. The Del Mar Academy students and several student guests from Serapio Lopez created their own acts, which were then organized and presented in the form of a circus.”

Environmental Education Contest: Presenting the winners

“On April 6th, Bobbi Johnson from the Nosara Civic Association, Rick Walker from the local Asada, Gerardo Bolaños de Sustainably Manager at Harmony and Damaris Matarrita – all of which are community members that are well-known for their environmental commitment and leadership – were invited to select the grand winners of this green educational contest.”