Guardian of the Birds: A network connecting the Americas to protect birds and transform classrooms
By Valentina Candeago, Ailen Coraza, Luciano Caldentey and Felipe Nieva
An educational partnership born from the work of Latin American teachers is achieving something unusual: bringing together schools from several countries to protect migratory birds and open new learning opportunities for students, regardless of their language. The initiative, known as “Guardian of the Birds,” is one of the projects that teachers carry out through iEARN: Learn with the World with encouragement from Partners of the Americas, a nonprofit organization that has been connecting communities for six decades under the motto: Connect, Serve, and Change Lives.
A project born from a colombian teacher
The story began in 2008, when Nury Penagos, an elementary school teacher in the Partners-Bogotá, transformed an everyday concern into a meaningful educational experience for her students. This is how “Our Birds Are Also Your Birds” was born, a program that integrated science, communication, and oral expression through the activity “A Little Bird Told Me.” Nury also established an educational bridge between Bogotá and a teacher in Florida, its US Partner chapter, to show that Colombian birds migrated back and forth to the United States and that protecting them required cooperation between distant communities.
When the Florida teacher left the classroom, Nury continued. In 2015, she traveled to the global iEARN conference in Brasilia thanks to a scholarship, where she met Ana María González, president of Partners-Costa Rica. Together they relaunched the initiative as an international project under the name “Guardian of the Birds,” available to teachers in the 140-country network.
Since then, teachers and students from Costa Rica, Russia, Belarus, the United States, and Argentina, among many countries, have joined. In Siberia, for example, students hold farewell ceremonies the first week in September for the birds migrating south, a gesture that reflects the program’s spirit: science, sensitivity, and community. In Belarus, the exchange inspired students to learn English to communicate with Colombia, due to cultural barriers.
The arrival in Argentina
The project reached Argentina thanks to the help of Natalia López, a social communicator with extensive experience in Red Telar, the Argentine chapter of iEARN and an original member of the network in 1988. According to Natalia’s experience, these projects “motivate students because they connect them with real audiences and push them to write with clarity and purpose.” The combination of communication practice, lived experience, and interdisciplinary work strengthens learning, teachers say.
The project grows thanks to the commitment of teachers, organizations, and students. Nury and Ana’s wish is clear: they want “Guardian of the Birds” used in elementary and middle schools, because “children gain so much; questions, curiosities, things that motivate them and lead to what education truly is: becoming interested and questioning what lies beyond their nearby space.” This directly impacts teachers: joining “Guardian of the Birds” should aim to raise awareness, generate positive changes, and above all, love for working with students.
Are you a teacher or youth leader and want to be part of this global network? Join iEARN and participate in Guardian of the Birds: https://iearn.org/join. During registration, click on “programs” and select “iEARN Projects (teachers)”. Then, in the registration form, complete with your information. At the end of the page, mention the Project you’re interested in.
Questions? You can find contact information for Nury and Ana Maria in the Partners Connect directory.
Work carried out by students of the Social Communication program at the Universidad Nacional del Comahue: Valentina Candeago and Luciano Caldentey (specializing in voice-over); Ailen Coraza (specializing in Management and Production) and Felipe Nieva (specializing in Journalism)