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| Teaching a preschool lesson |
When I went to Kenya in 2005, I saw the difference between education and lack thereof. Kids who went to school were not only more knowledgeable, but had higher goals regarding their lives and the possibility of change in their country. Kids who went to school had aspirations that I had never even heard of. Kids who went to school had an idea of the world outside of their village. Kids who didn’t, had a whole lot less of everything. Of course, it wasn’t their fault; nor was it their parents’. It was the fact that a lack of education meant (from what I experienced) a lack of a larger perspective. I came back from that trip and changed my major to Teaching.
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| Phillip at home, while his sister is in school |
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| Boys outside their home (could not go to school) |
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| Children in school |
The school I work/volunteer at is a good one. I love it. I love the students, I love the atmosphere, and I love that there is an exponential need for growth for which I am able be used to my ability. Yet, there is still something missing. Like all schools in the area (government and private), there exists an extreme deficiency of outside resources. This includes after school academic programs, clubs, sports (besides basketball), and in-school academic achievement opportunities. Our students are no doubt pushed to succeed academically every day in their classes, however there is a need for more motivation to not only survive school, but to thrive in school. I have asked myself that question many times;
How can I add to this need? Recalling my high school days and all the programs and opportunities available to us as we went about those four years, I want the same for our students.
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| Recess |
Recently, our high school put on an “Academic Decathlon” for the students to compete in teams against one another. Realistically, what that meant was I prepared several questions from multiple subjects (most academic, but some unoriginal), and made a huge Jeopardy Game. The students loved it. Even more, they were challenged to go beyond their daily routine and they thrived. My mind warped around other ideas to get students involved academically (lower performers as well as higher performers), in order that they may be further motivated to achieve greater academic goals for themselves while they still attended their classes. An annual Spelling Bee, a Quiz Bowl for the elementary school, an ASB program, Literacy Competitions, a mentoring program; there are countless projects to divulge into. Thank the Lord I have the strength and energy to dive in while the water’s hot!
Sometimes I am really grateful for the gaping needs of this community. It means we have open chances to make some delightful changes!
