Juan José tiene doce años y estudia sexto grado en el colegio. Vive con su abuela en el cantón de Obrajuelo, a la par de la iglesia, aproximadamente 5 millas del colegio. Sus padres viven en México. Cada mañana, va en el bus del pueblo para el colegio. Su familia es muy pobre y su abuela hace y vende comida típica de nuesto país, como maní y tostadas de plátano y yuca. Hace unos cinco años, Juan estaba jugando con un primo y una vara de hierro le atravesó el ojo. Desde entonces, no ve de ese ojo. Su abuela le ha llevado a varios doctores, incluyendo a México y a una clínica de optamólogos de Estados Unidos, y todos dicen que no hay nada que se puede hacer.
Juan es muy amigable y extrovertido. Su materia favorita es física (excepto hoy, cuando el profesor puso al clase caminar como patos) y su comida favorita es la pizza. Cuando sea grande, quiere ser veterinario. En su tiempo libre, le gusta jugar en el celular. También le encanta andar en bicicleta. Tiene una, pero ya no sirve. Lo que más le gusta del colegio es que puede empezar a estudiar inglés desde kínder.
Este año, la abuela de Juan le iba a matricular en la escuela pública de su cantón, porque su papá ha estado enfermo y ella no podía con todos los gastos, incluso con la media beca que tenía. Lo mandó un día a la escuela, y el profesor le dijo que Juan tenía una historia de mal conducto allí y que a la primera ofensa, se le iban a echar de la escuela. Ella se molestó que el profesor le dijera eso y entonces mandó a Juan de regreso al colegio, aunque sabe que tendrá que hacer muchos sacrificios.

Juan José is twelve years old and in sixth grade at PNARDS. He lives with his grandma in the township of Obrajuelo, right next to the church, about 5 miles from the school. His parents live in Mexico. Every morning, he takes the town bus to school. Juan José’s family is very poor and his grandmother makes and sells typical snacks like roast peanuts and plantain and yucca chips. Five years ago, Juan was playing and got a metal bar stuck into his right eye. Since then, he hasn’t been able to see out of it. His grandmother has taken him to many different doctors, even to Mexico, but they don’t think there is a way to fix his eye.
Juan José is a very friendly, outgoing boy. His favorite subject is gym (except today when his teacher made him do duck walks) and his favorite food is pizza. He wants to be a vet when he grows up. In his free time, he likes to play on his cell phone. He also loves riding bikes and he has one, but it doesn’t work anymore. What he likes most about PNARDS is that students have the opportunity to learn English from a young age.
This year, Juan’s grandma was planning to enroll him at the public school again, because her father’s been sick and she just couldn’t make ends meet, even with the half-scholarship. However, she sent him one day, and his homeroom teacher told her that Juan had a history of severe misbehaviour and that at his first offense, they were going to throw him out of school. She got upset that a teacher would talk to her about her son the way this teacher did, so she sent him back to PNARDS, even though she knows she’ll have to make sacrifices.