The Way of the Sun

Just 15 minutes outside the heart of Playa del Carmen, Mexico, is a proud place where young hearts and minds are nurtured and developed. At first a source of hope, those who rise through the K’iin Beh School end up with purpose and an educated intent. That’s good news not just for the Playa del Carmen community, but the worldwide community, too. In Mayan, the term K’iin Beh translates to “the way of the sun.” What began with 20 preschool children in its first year in operation in 2011, Ki’in Beh has ballooned into a thriving, yet humble, organization today, effectively growing the hearts and minds of more than 400 students—now all the way into high school. A bilingual non-profit school established for local Cristo Ray community children in Playa del Carmen, K’iin Beh focuses not only on providing a solid education to local children, but more importantly, it instills in the students strong principles and values. On Tuesday of last week’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, upwards of 60 students, mostly 10th and 11th graders, had the opportunity to meet with executives and staff members from World Wide Technology. Each representative headed a table of students, with whom they spoke together on a number of topics, from creating their own core values, to what a résumé is, and how to create one. By all accounts, the program was comprehensive, lively and interactive. Among those in attendance Tuesday was Bob Ferrell, Executive Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Public Sector Strategy at World Wide Technology. Ferrell is a retired three-star General who once served at the Pentagon as the Army Central Intelligence Officer. The session was led by Ashley Harris, Manager, Community Outreach and Employee Engagement for World Wide Technology and also included Juanita Logan (Area VP, Global Corporate Development), John Crawford (Senior Director of Engineering, Global Enterprise Sales, North Central) and Cari Wilber (Area VP, Marketing). “What a treat and honor it was to spend time with the K’iin Beh students and community,” Logan said. “It was a time of discovery, learning, discussion and dreaming about the future of these bright, young students. The students learned about and met with World Wide Technology leaders who share their same skills and values and are real life examples of what is possible. In addition to getting to know the students, World Wide Technology learned about the Día de los Muertos tradition and enjoyed watching the PGA TOUR players engage the children in a fun golf activity. “These students are our future leaders and we are excited to be a small part of growing a future-ready K’iin Beh community.” On Wednesday, PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Latinoamerica players Marty Dou, Harry Hall, Matti Schmid, Enrique Marin Santander and Armando Favela visited the school to experience the impact of the mission for themselves. “The best part of the week for me was the K’iin Beh school visit World Wide Technology set up for us,” said PGA TOUR Latinoamerica player Armando Favela, who was making his fifth start in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. “We went to the school to learn about a very awesome project. We visited with kids from kindergarten all the way up to high school. They had just opened the high school a day before, so it was inspiring to see what Mayakoba, World Wide Technology and their team are doing for the community.” What is most important about the foundation are the 51 educational professionals, led by Director Raquel Mitre, who foster and promote a culture based on respect and honesty, as well as teach proper values to the students in preparation for them to become the future leaders of the community. “Honestly, it was eye-opening, a great experience,” Favela added. “All the players had a lot of fun with the golf activities. But, most importantly, we saw the smiles of the kids. It was amazing. Raquel, the principal of the school, welcomed us with open arms and kindness. It was a great morning, which I won’t forget for a while.” Ferrell was enamored with the day. He signed autographs, took countless video and photos, and even captured a selfie with all five of the professional golfers and then the gathered students. More impactful, Ferrell and other executives participated in Día de Muertos (Day of The Dead) ceremonies, where students educated their visitors about the importance to the Mexican culture of this Nov. 1-2 tribute to loved ones lost. “K’iin Beh’s mission to help students believe in themselves, their skills and capacities to become successful human beings with positive values and future leaders of their community aligns perfectly with our aspiration of making the world a better place for all,” Ferrell said. With 120 students in 2015, ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade, the school found itself with poor facilities and minimal resources. About that time, K’iin Beh had also been asked to move off the land they were temporarily using. The school would be closing. When another plot of land was donated to the school, construction was initiated. The school, though, had no money to move forward with the project. But, with donations, such as those from the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, K’iin Beh is able to now invest in new facilities, fund classrooms and supplies, and support staff at the school. “Our main goal is to continue providing bilingual education to the children based on values and with the purpose of them creating their own futures and to contribute to a better future for this community and Mexico,” said Ricardo Moreno, Regional Director of Talent and Culture. World Wide Technology is proud to send a portion of the tournament’s proceeds to K’iin Beh, which will use the money to support its mission of providing high quality education to underprivileged children, strengthen self-esteem by instilling human and civil values, and teach children to live with goals and leadership. Under Mitre’s leadership, K’iin Beh offers full-time, bilingual education for over 400 students. To help broaden the global landscape of the children’s minds, half the classes are taught in English, half in Spanish. “That’s why we’re excited about our support of K’iin Beh, a bilingual non-profit school in the Riviera Maya for children from marginalized areas, as part of our work with the PGA TOUR as title sponsor of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba,” Ferrell said. K’iin Beh is a licensed, nonprofit foundation, which bases tuition on the specific economic situation of each family. Every child, though, will receive some form of scholarship. Because of that scholarship-based enrollment, K’iin Beh accepts students from every economic background. “Hopefully, the project continues to grow and inspire more kids each year to go to school, to get educated and to know that there’s people here in Playa del Carmen that want them to succeed in life,” added Favela. At first a source of hope, K’iin Beh does, indeed, produce stars, driven by determination to rise and shine, just like the sun. If you would like to donate, or learn more about donating, visit the K’iin Beh School donation page here: https://www.kiinbeh.org/donate.

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