Project Sunshine y Salud

At Centro Infantil de los Angeles part of our mission is to create a safe, healthy environment where the children in our care from age 2 months – 6 years can grow and flourish. In order to support that mission, we are launching a project to raise funds to improve the overall health of our children.

Support our campaign here!

Our goals are to:

• Expand & open windows in the classrooms
• Hire a part-time nurse
• Purchase live non-toxic plants for the Center

Of great importance to us is to expand and open the windows at the Center to provide natural light and proper ventilation for both our children and our teachers.

Treated as a rich and fertile soil, a healthy classroom can give rise to some great moments in teaching and learning. After all, there’s nothing like a dark and stuffy classroom to stifle productivity.

Healthy classrooms are environments where young minds can flourish. They facilitate physical, cognitive, and social emotional development in young children. It’s a little room in which teachers and learners spend much of their days, so it’s crucial that the physical environment is made as conducive to wellness and progress as the mental and emotional environments are.

From preschool to college, the significant increase in learning speed that natural light makes possible can have a significant positive effect on achievements and test scores, creating a more productive and successful environment for students. In addition to improving educational achievement and learning skills, exposure to natural light improves overall health and growth.

Numerous studies have shown that both exposure to natural sunlight and fresh air are effective disinfectants that kill bacteria. When bacteria comes into contact with fresh air, something called the open-air factor occurs. The open-air factor phenomenon refers to when compounds in the air act as a disinfectant that kills germs and pathogens. Bacteria survive in closed areas better than when they’re exposed to fresh air.

Even the World Health Organization confirms that natural ventilation–allowing fresh air to circulate–is an important part of infection control. Good ventilation is particularly important for sleep rooms, diaper changing areas, bathrooms and rooms where unwell children are isolated and looked after temporarily.

In addition to natural light and proper ventilation, we would like to provide all the classrooms in both of our facilities with safe, non-toxic plants. As plants provide so many benefits to our health and well-being, they’re also a great addition to schools and daycare facilities.

It’s already been proven that being in the presence of plants can increase memory retention by around 20%, as well as improving performance in a series of basic tests as leaves and stems can absorb, deflect, and retract background noise.

Another study concluded that introducing potted plants to classrooms reduced the amount of sickness-related absences amongst primary school students.

Finally, another benefit of having plants in schools is that they can be used to strengthen relationships between students within the classroom. This is because they can encourage social interaction, as well as promote teamwork and collaboration.

Plants also provide a great opportunity for the teacher to educate them on different plant types, how they grow, and how to successfully care for them. Looking after classroom plants can also be turned into a group effort, with specific teams or individuals being responsible for caring for the plant at one time. This not only encourages them to work in teams, strengthening their social skills, but it will also give them a sense of responsibility and make them feel more capable and confident in themselves.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, a part-time nurse would greatly improve the overall health of our children. As we can’t turn away kids who are sick since our facility provides care to working mothers, it’s imperative that they receive regular medical attention and preventative care.

Total projected cost of the project is $15,000

Please help us provide a healthy environment for our kids. Support our campaign here!