Game Changer: Teacher Sergio Juarez Correa

Americas Now

Game Changer Sergio Ivan Juarez Correa

He took on the brave fight against school dropout rates in an impoverished public school in Mexico. Then, he revolutionized teaching methods, and led an entire class to success. He is Game Changer Sergio Juarez Correa.

The Mexican border town of Matamoros was once full of promise. However, as soon as the downturn of the US economy hit, many residents of this industrial manufacturing city lost their jobs, along with their livelihoods. Today, the city has been struck hard by poverty, and six out of ten residents say that their biggest fear is the Gulf Cartel and the drug violence it brings to the city.  But amidst the negativity, public school teacher Sergio Ivan Juarez Correa maintains hope, especially for the children of Matamoros. The local first grade educator has made it his mission to introduce a new method of teaching to his students. It allows them to unleash their creativity, helping them to learn independently, freeing their thoughts and also freeing them from their oftentimes unhappy living situations.

Correa took his example from renowned professor Sugata Mitra, who discovered that children allowed to explore in an educational setting on their own will learn more from each other and through their own curiosities than from an adult instructor.  In the Matamoros school where Correa teaches, he has already seen vast improvements. Students are excelling, and even surprising themselves with their abilities. For the students of this down stricken town, Correa is offering more than a novel way of learning; he is guiding them along a path to a better and brighter future.