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Asociación Amigos del Aprendizaje – Costa Rica
After 15 years of promoting reading and writing in classrooms across the country, our partner ADA launched the new edition of the Mi Cuento Fantástico (My Fantastic Story) competition, designed for students in grades three through six. The goal: to strengthen writing, reading, critical thinking, and self-confidence. The competition also serves as a practical tool for implementing the Spanish language curriculum of the Ministry of Public Education (MEP).
“Writing isn’t just a language assignment. It’s learning to put into words what you think, what you feel, what you imagine. That’s why we’re supporting Mi Cuento Fantástico, alongside ADA, which works to promote reading and writing in our schools. The idea is simple: to create more space in classrooms for reading, writing, and sharing stories. Because when a student discovers they can write, they also discover they have something to say,” said Leonardo Sánchez Hernández, Minister of Education.
A distinguished panel of judges will select 12 national winning stories and 27 regional winners to be published in anthologies, along with recognition for the single-teacher schools with the highest participation rates and the most community-voted stories on social media.
The competition also awards 27 “Fantastic Classrooms” recognitions for classes where every student submits a story, a new “Fantastic Schools” award for the schools with the most Fantastic Classrooms, and special Ambassador awards for teachers, librarians, and coordinators who inspire their colleagues to join the initiative.
Renata Villers, ADA’s executive director, highlighted that Mi Cuento Fantástico places reading and writing at the heart of knowledge-building, empowering students as authors of their own stories. Since its launch in 2012, the competition has engaged 179,000 students from 1,400 schools across all 27 educational regions in the country, guided by 8,400 teachers. It is co-organized by ADA, the MEP, and the Business Communications Community, alongside key partners committed to children’s education.