FeedsStudents reach out to partner school in Africa
Click image to enlarge
Students Catherine Bank, from the top, left, Cord Martin, Henry Kramer, Josh Kramer, Eric Bartell, Hannah Krawczyk, Julien LaPlante, Emma Krawczyk and Anastasia LaPlante work on the new study unit at New Morning School.By the time they move on, students at New Morning School in Plymouth Township will have another overseas ‘visit’ to their credit.
Students at the K – 8 facility conducted a school-wide study of Asia last year. The curriculum was inspired by a trip to Japan taken by Executive Director Elaine Kennedy – and the follow up programs she brought back. This year, students will focus on Africa.
“It’s important for them to learn about other cultures,” Kennedy said.
They already have a partner school in Africa, Chichiri Primary School, which also educates students through the eighth grade. That’s where the similarities stop.
Chichiri has 1,800 students with a student-to-teacher ratio of 60 to one. Krawczyk said the school has running water, two pit latrines, a field area, 15 classrooms and two staff offices. It has a reputation for producing capable pupils, she said, many of whom complete primary school and attend university.
At New Morning, the ratio is 12 to one with a student-to-parent ratio of four to one. The school has a total of 86 students, 20 of whom are in middle school.
One problem facing the partnership continues to be the level of Internet access in Malawi. Chichiri is the first public school in the country to have a private e-mail address, but Krawczyk said the school has undependable electricity. A few blocks from the school is an Internet café, which New Morning pays for Chichiri to use.
Several students from New Morning conducted fundraising to purchase a laptop for Chichiri. They’re about to start up a pen pal program, but the ultimate goal is to provide a video feed between the two schools.
“In kid language that will come back and forth [the students] will find they have some commonalities,” Krawczyk said of the pen pal program. Teachers at the school have already introduced students to the continent and several students have been struck by some of the realities of life there.
“We just go to the supermarket, they actually have to go to a lake to get water,” said Eric Bartell, a fourth grader. The students described Africa as being full of poverty and hunger.
“They don’t have the technology that we do, they are not online as much…most of them don’t go to school,” said Catherine Bank, an eighth grader. Aside from the differences between our lives and the lives of some Africans, the students expressed commonalties that can be found.
“Friends and family are really important to them, too,” Bank said.
Seventh grader Cord Martin, explained why it’s important to understand other cultures. “So we can learn how they live and ways we can help them,” Martin said. “It’s important to learn about that so we know what’s going on in the world not just at home.”
The pen pal conversations have yet to begin, but students gave some idea what they might learn from their peers in Africa.
“That maybe all lives are hard, not just theirs,” said Hanna, referring to the idea everyone is faced with problems.
“Everyone has obstacles in their lives and they are trying to conquer those obstacles,” Bartell said.
When the program officially begins, Krawczyk said the students will learn some people in Africa face these issues and some do not. At this point, she said, they are a little overwhelmed by some of the living situations in Africa.
Krawczyk said she hopes students will learn a lot from the non-traditional lesson.
“It’s allowing them to do something [hands-on] that is actually going to make a difference,” Krawczyk said.
