Here's a picture of my mom holding an award she got at the Sudanese Independence Day celebration this past Saturday.
Ahlam (el nombre de mi madre) started a Sudanese Saturday school for the community with her best friend Muna. The school meets Saturdays for three hours and focuses on teaching Arabic and Sudanese culture to the young kids of the community.
I actually help out by taking pictures and also teaching. In the past month, the student population has more than doubled and the school, unlike its 1001 predecessors, has not failed yet. I am personally taking charge to see that it continues to succeed by communicating with the students to find ways of (hehe) "keepin' 'em coming". So far the kids just want to have fun. Some of them understandabley hate going to school 6 days a week so I have been trying to figure out ways of making the school seem less "school-like". Kids love games and candy right?
Any other ideas, feedback, support, comments, questions: anything is welcomed!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Mommy Started Her Own School
Labels: Community, philadelphia, phlly, sudan
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4 comments:
I think that what Mama and auntie Muna are doing is awesome. Also, very inspirational. It really goes to show that two people can really make a difference. I am certain that the school will continue to grow. With luck, it will catch on and more programs like this one will be created.
Keep on keepin' on!
I hope you are right nelsa.
I have just found out that there are plenty of forces that could cause this school to fail. A strategy I generally use is: (1) identify what didn't work in the past and then (2) fix the problem.
I would suggest trips or something. Rewards for doing things right, like a prize from Sudan for the person with the best attendance. i think in this day and age, the ability for the student to sit still and focus is diminishing, which is why lectures are recorded more, why some professors have turned to videos, and why people hold demonstrations...Anything to grab attention and keep the mind focused...um, educational seizuring if you will.
I know with the upward Bound program most students are only driven by the fact that they get to go on cool trips and get money through the program. Fortunately, we are also able squeeze in a little knowledge, and at the very least, values that are important to your future (simple things like paying attention when you don't want to and waking up early when you do not necessarily have to).
Maybe it's not the best approach, but you can't argue with results.
agreed Bobby. The hard part is dealing with those specific kids in the class that bring a negative attitude that affects the rest of the kids...
also, the parents of the students need to be active too. Lately a problem that I've noticed is that some parents drop their kids off late and then pick them up late too so the teachers end up repeating themselves in class and babysitting afterwards.
NOT cool you know
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