Fourth Public Montessori Youth Congress Held

Students from different Montessori Secondary public schools participated.

This past May, the fourth Public Montessori Youth Congress took place at the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey.

The Auxiliary Secretariat for Montessori Education (SAEM), in collaboration with Instituto Nueva Escuela (INE), brought together youth from 14 Montessori public secondary schools under the theme “Being Agents of Change.”

The Congress was first held in 2018 to provide a space for youth to voice their concerns—one of the main ones being the planned closure of schools by the Department of Education. The initiative was started by María I. Meléndez, then a Secondary Montessori guide, who is now the school director of the Luis Muñoz Marín Montessori School in Comerío.

The last Congress was held virtually in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the entire world and reshaped education.

The event began with a community assembly, just like every day starts in Montessori secondary environments.

Now, after the pandemic, the event is being revived as a space where youth can be heard and feel empowered to shape their reality, true to the Montessori philosophy.

According to Melissa Pintado, Secondary Montessori Facilitator at SAEM, the event is “a gathering for them to strengthen their virtues, their talents, their opportunities, and bring together representatives from each public Montessori secondary school to form a representative collective.”

The event featured guest speakers like Héctor Collazo, known as Héctor P.R., who gave a motivational talk titled How Big Are Your Problems? and journalist and meteorologist Ada Monzón, who gave a talk on climate change. Both sessions reflected the main theme of the Congress: being agents of change, positive change.

Students who participated in the Congress expressed their gratitude and took photos with the guest speakers.

In the afternoon, students participated in workshops on various topics, from how to create a podcast to exploring the arts as a tool for socioemotional development. From INE, we joined and celebrated these gatherings that enrich the curriculum, the educational experience, and the lives of Puerto Rican youth.