4829 Lavista Rd. Tucker, GA 30084/Afropolitan Building, Newport St. Monrovia, Liberia
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LETTER FROM CEO
I hope this communication finds you well! First and foremost, let me start by thanking everyone for being a part of Educate Liberia and being extremely patient as we work through the process needed to accomplish our goals. Finally, I am writing this letter to inform the board of our successful trip to Liberia and all that we’ve done thus far.
In June of 2019, the team conducted a preassessment of all of the teachers at the 10 schools that we were interested in adopting. The assessments were used to assist us in tailoring our training. In careful examination of the preliminary results, we thought it wise to include specific topics in our sessions. In the same month of June, we were privileged to pilot a mini Accelerated Learning Program (ALP), which assisted us in getting things moving on the ground. The program is on-going through the summer vacation and will conclude at the end of August.
In July of 2019, 4 of our brilliant educators/trainers (Prof. Debbie Scott, Dr. Clarice Ford-Kulah, Dr. Rosalita Kennedy, Anastasia Simmonds) stormed the University of Liberia’s (LU) Fendell Campus, along with our CFO, county coordinators and advisors, to provide an initial best- practice(s) training that afforded teachers from all of our schools an opportunity to learn and gain valuable incite into specific areas of Early Childhood /Primary Education. Educate Liberia was able to pay for teachers transportion from their various villages/towns to LU, where they were also afforded room and board. The remaining teachers were bussed in from Paynesville Community School and Euphemia Barclay to LU. An additional 30 teachers were students from LU Teachers College. Combined, we had about 130 teachers and were ready for our exciting training session.
On July 15th , our opening ceremony was graced by the Deputy Minister of Instruction (Min. Alexander Doupu),the Dean of LU Teachers College (Dr. Cecelia Cassell), and Primary Department Chair of LU Teachers College (Prof. Anita Cooper). During our training, we covered 4 targeted topics: Language/Literacy, Math, Classroom Management, and Motivating Students. The training also included a look at the curriculum, analyzing grade level standards, lesson planning, creating activities, and a host of other child-friendly games and strategies to assist teachers during the first few months of school. The training concluded with a small ceremony where certificates were awarded, surveys were conducted, and stipends were provided. By the end of our July visit, we were successful in getting our long awaited Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed. With this document, we are now in partnership with the Ministry of Education and as such, are equipped to provide much needed educational services to our selected schools in Liberia.
After the training, a post assessment was conducted and some schools were visited. Some members of our team were able to spend time at the schools in Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, Gbarbolu, and Grand Bassa Counties. Nimba County and Bong Counties will be visited next week and that will conclude our on-the-ground visits to all of the schools. To date, we have the post assessment data from Grand Bassa, Grand Cape Mount, and Montserrado. As the others come in, we will update.
Based on the information provided, our next phase is the improvement of the physical appearance of the schools. As per the pictures taken during our visits and placed on the website, our schools are in trouble and require a lot of work. As such, we need funds for painting, replacing roofs, building desks, chairs, blackboards, etc. We also need classroom supplies to make the classrooms presentable for our children.
During our visits, we also discovered the dire need for an Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) Program in many of the counties, Grand Bassa being the most needed. As a result, our additional goal is to establish a successful ALP Program in Grand Bassa, County, which will not only alleviate the issue of multi-age grouping, but also the overcrowdedness of the classrooms. This will reduce classrooms from 100 to possibly 50 students or even lower.
Having said all of this, we need the help of our entire team. If anyone is able, kindly adopt 1 of the schools and assist in getting that school ready. This can be in the form of monetary donations, for the purchase of paint, roofing materials, classroom supplies, etc. The plan is to have all classroom supplies purchased here and delivered to Elizabeth Armstrong by mid August. She will deliver the materials when she returns to Liberia in August. This will allow the teachers to get the classrooms ready by the end of the month as school is officially scheduled to open on September 2, 2019.
We want to take this time to thank Prof. Debbie Scott-Caranda for consenting to be our Acting Country Director. She is on the ground, and has valuable insight into the national operations regarding our endaeavors.
Please know that everyone’s opinions and thoughts are valued here. Should you have any questions, concerns, or anything to add, please let us know as soon as possible. Again, thanks for your patience. I am truly excited about what we are doing in Liberia and am looking forward to working with each of you to make Liberia’s education system the best it can be.