Juan Pablo Romero (right), founder and director of Los Patojos, teases current student Christopher Alvarado, 19, who participates in the construction and upkeeping of the new campus during the mornings.

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Fourth-grade students prep dough to bake during a cooking class at Los Patojos.

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A woman walks two children to the alternative school of Los Patojos.

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Young teenagers play chess during a break at the main Los Patojos campus.

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Current studends Steven Garcia (left), 16, and Luis Hernandez, 15, help construct around the athletic field in Los Patojos' new campus.

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Pre-elementary school children take part in schoolroom activities.

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Children play inside the main campus of Los Patojos before classes begin.

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Teenage boys practice music at the main Los Patojos campus.

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Juan Pablo Romero holds a young plant named "arbol lisado", which will be used for its renawable firewood.

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Jonathan Ramirez, 16, breakdances at the main Los Patojos campus.

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Los Patojos


Juan Pablo Romero started Los Patojos in his parent’s house and grew it into a community center and school educating over 300 students. 


"Los Patojos is in the mold of Montessori and Waldorf schools. It focuses on the whole child — the intellectual, the artistic, the physical and the practical. Teachers show the students how to bake bread, to take photographs, to frame a building — and they also instill pride of place."


Romero is now building an innovative campus with incubation labs, horticulture programs, culinary arts, and more. Sacatepéquez, Guatemala. September 2018.


Full story and photo essay for NPR.


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