School's out for Summer

Schools out for summer?

Okay maybe not summer but we have finished our school year! School in Uganda goes from February to November. We had our speech day, which is like an end of the year program, on Sunday afternoon to mark the end of the year. Each class did a drama or a song, we also had “graduation” for the kindergarten class. As I sat there watching the classes perform I began thinking of all that we have done this year.

The biggest accomplishment was that we now have a full library! We began the year with empty bookshelves and no idea of what a library was. Now we have a fulltime librarian who I have full confidence in for next year as well as over 500 books!! Each week the children come and check out a book and then return it the next week for a new book. When I started the library, many people warned me that we were going to lose so many books because the kids, out of excitement, would take the books home and we would never see them again. I continued to emphasize that these were books for school and that we need to care for them so that next year we can have them again. The kids did a wonderful job and I am happy to report that after 24,000 check outs we only had two lost books!!!! They rose to our expectations and I know that with each year the library will grow even more.

My other main goal was teacher training. Teachers in Uganda are taught very differently than teachers in America and receive far less training before beginning the job. So “teacher training” encompassed lots of things from appropriate classroom management to how to teach lessons in a more engaging manner to correcting teachers spelling on posters. We also set up a teacher resource closet that had manipulatives, notebooks and markers and many other things for the teachers to use in their classroom. I did a training time on how to best use these resources. We also had Read for Life, another NGO in Gulu, come and do a week long training on phonics.

I had two teachers who really learned so much and were great students this year. I was so excited that they were so willing to learn new things and it was so evident in their classrooms as their students were learning so much more. I was talking with one of the teachers and found out she has not had any formal education training! She finished secondary school and began teaching!! The country is making strides to improve teacher education by stating that all teachers have to have a bachelor’s degree by 2021. In order to get a bachelors degree you must first complete a certificate and then a diploma and then a degree. So, In Community is sponsoring this teacher to begin her certificate. She will go for classes between school terms and will complete her certificate by next December. The amazing part is that the total cost of the program should be $500 total. As I remember my college days, we paid more than that for one term of books!

I have loved getting to walk beside Kitetikka Primary School this year. I am grateful that In Community allowed me to help this sweet school in so many practical ways! I have been able to show some new ways of doing things but I have also learned so much from this school. I have loved getting to know the teachers and students and I am excited to see where the school is in five years because I know they are going to continue to grow and change over the next few years.

Thank you for participating in this ministry!!