Amigos de México Mzt. A.C.
Primary Schools
Our Primary school
In the past, Friends of Mexico supported several primary schools by giving children various types of school supplies. Around 2012, a new all-day school was built in the San Antonio colonia and we decided to help that school by building a kitchen and cafeteria. Friends of Mexico members also brought groceries each month to supplement the lunch program and help subsidize many families who couldn’t afford the lunch fee. In addition, we have helped with plumbing and electrical needs as well as equipment for the classrooms. The staff elected to name their new school Amigos de Mexico Primary to honour the assistance that we continue to provide.
Cannot afford to pay lunch fee
When COVID hit the city in 2020, the school was closed to students for an extended period of time and the cafeteria and kitchen became storage areas. When the school reopened, it was reduced from an all-day to a half-day school for students.
In the fall of 2023, Friends of Mexico decided to renovate the kitchen and cafeteria in order to offer a breakfast program to children whose parents struggle to feed them in the morning. Local cooks have been hired from the school area to provide nutritious meals to 40 students for five days each week. These breakfasts are supported by our annual fundraiser “The Hat Extravaganza” and our “Breakfast Buddies Program.”
Members have the opportunity to attend special functions and celebrations of Mexican holidays.
Francisco Madero Herrera primary school roof repair, April 2020.
Friends of Mexico offered to help a poor school with a project. Francisco Madero had been waiting for assistance from the municipal government because their roof was leaking and materials were being ruined. We were happy to complete this project in April 2020.
Our School's History
Until 2012 Friends of Mexico supported a number of morning and afternoon schools in poorer colonies with school supplies and English as a Second Language classes. Then in 2012, a new school was built in the Colonia Nuevo Milenio. Friends of Mexico and SEPY, the department of Education in Sinaloa, developed a partnership to support it for full day instruction. Friends of Mexico and the Parent council worked together to build a cafeteria and kitchen in order to provide the children nutritious noon meals. The parents raised funds for the concrete slab, walls and roof while Friends of Mexico furnished the kitchen and eating area. Donations of appliances were received from businesses and individual members. Groceries were supplied each month by Friends of Mexico to support the noon meal program and improvements to classrooms were made. These included the installation of locked cabinets and white boards as well as the painting of student desks. A weekly English as a Second Language class was offered in the winter season.
The school was known as the Nuevo Creacion (New Creation) until December 5, 2018, when an official naming ceremony was held. Director Jorge Luis Rubio and representatives from SEPYC along with Executive Members and guests from Friends of Mexico, parents and children unveiled the new logo. Director Rubio designed the logo that named the school Escuela Primeria Estatal, Amigos de Mexico A.C.
It was a beautiful sunny day on December 5, 2022, when Board members and volunteers from Friends of Mexico shared the 5th anniversary of the naming of the Amigos de Mexico elementary school, with staff and members of the city of Mazatlan Dept. of Education. The audience was treated to songs and dancing from all of the students. After the program guests met in the dining room for a snack of tortillas and soft drinks. The principal promised that the 5th grade students would travel to Friend’s Diner on Dec. 13 to entertain the members during their regular meeting.