Yes, that’s us on the front page of The New York Times!

Today’s New York Times article “New Schools in South Africa Serve the Underserved”, by Celia W. Dugger, highlights the tremendous success that Teach with Africa and the LEAP Schools are helping to foster.

“As an organization, we’re delighted such a collaborative exchange of teaching and learning has been covered by the national media,” said Teach with Africa’s Executive Director Amy Schoew.

“It’s about improving access to quality education for all students. The work we do is only possible because of the passionate educators who volunteer to work abroad and our South African partners. The New York Times article is a testament to the reciprocal learning between Teach with Africa Fellows and the LEAP faculty. The true success stories are the South African students.”

Here’s an excerpt about Gcobani Mndini, a 17-year-old LEAP student, who was co-taught by a LEAP faculty member and Teach with Africa Fellow.

Gcobani’s first class of the day was his favorite. This is his third year taking science from Ross Hill, 31, the son an Anglican pastor and a high school biology teacher who knows the privileges he had growing up white in South Africa and feels a responsibility to help tilt the scales back.

When Gcobani first stepped into class as a 10th grader, Mr. Hill said he knew of the boy’s reputation and braced for a fight, but there was none. “He loves science,” Mr. Hill said.

On this particular morning, the class began with a dull, theoretical review of the photoelectric effect. The students seemed virtually comatose. Then the interplay between Mr. Hill and Jamie Brandt, a physics teacher from Marin County, Calif., woke everyone up.

Mr. Brandt, 36, a Teach With Africa volunteer, pantomimed the photoelectric effect in action, pretending to walk through a laser beam and getting the students to describe what happened when his body broke the current.

Mr. Hill then instructed the class to act out the photoelectric effect. The photon students bounced into a piece of zinc (a swaying clump of teenagers), causing the electrons (more students) to pop out.

“Come on, photons!” Mr. Hill exclaimed. “Just a gentle bump! A loving bump!”

A photon girl nudged the zinc students. The class howled with laughter, and Mr. Hill said, “Oh, sweet.”

Jamie Brandt, 2010 Teach with Africa Fellow, works with students at the LEAP Science and Maths School in Cape Town. Photo by Joao Silva for The New York Times.

Read the entire article about John Gilmour’s LEAP Schools and the partnership with TwA here…

First Graduate is a college access program working with aspiring first-generation university students in San Francisco, California. It works exclusively with students because of the “tremendous need for college access and completion services for students who come from non-college educated families.”

The following story is excerpted from their website:

On August 3, First Graduate hosted our eighth annual Presentations of Learning (POLs), a special event for our students, their families, and members of the community. During the evening event, held at The Bay School, more than 80 of our high school students offered insightful and moving presentations highlighting their educational experiences and goals for the future.

The POLs gave our students the opportunity to reflect on their challenges and accomplishments as they continue their journey on the road to college. The event also provided them with a chance to hone the type of public speaking and presentation skills they will need to exercise in college and beyond.

Here is an example from a student POL:

Paola, The Marin School
“I spent most of my freshman year getting used to high school and adopting to a new culture with a different socio-economic group than I was accustomed to. By the beginning of my sophomore year, I had already gotten somewhat accustomed to the culture and really wanted to learn and grow more by getting to know other cultures and lifestyles. At my school, my English teacher was introducing African literature. During this unit, he asked for volunteers for an event called Teach with Africa. This was the first year when the program was going to take students overseas to San Francisco to host a workshop with Bay Area students. The workshop was going to be about the educational systems in South Africa and in the U.S. I immediately knew I wanted to be part of this event.”

Change the World, Fund a Teacher!

Monday 5/17/10 – I was frustrated, not sure about my goal to bring a student from Africa here to attend college.  Wondering if it will work and if I am doing the right thing.  How can I ensure the selected student will graduate?  How can I be sure the student will return to Africa?  How can I be certain that the student will be a good steward of Mandy’s legacy, memory, and philosophy?  I decided to send a prayer request into www.air1.com .  I asked that they pray for God to let me know if I was following the right path, and if I was following the correct path for me to have the strength and patience to keep plugging along.

Tuesday 5/18/10 – Feeling better after I let go of the worry.  I had a busy day at work.  Got an odd invitation to an event on Face Book and since I was busy I almost deleted it but then I decided save it and to open it later. Read the rest of this entry »

Students at LEAP 3

I sat in on a Sesotho Grade 10 language class at LEAP 3…the students were great tutors, instructing me in the (very) basics: hello, hi, how are you, I’m fine. “Dumela” they would say…”Age (Ah-gay)” I would reply. They made me do this little “greeting” routine…”dumela…age…okae…ke teng” with each of them, collapsing into giggles when I forgot the next line or when my pronunciation destroyed any meaning whatsoever. Finally I realized that they were running outside the class to bring in more students to “quiz” me, which explained why the line by my desk was getting longer and longer. They had just had their final the day before — I decided making a fool of myself in front of the entire Grade 10 class was the least I could do to let them blow off some steam. And did I mention that I loved every minute of it?

by Amy Schoew, Exec Dir Teach with Africa

By Amy Schoew, upon returning from S. Africa.

View across Alexandra from the construction site of the Nelson Mandela Museum

I visited Johannesburg for the first time, and was amazed at the incredible energy pulsing through this city. As I stood at the construction site of the Nelson Mandela museum on the corner of 7th Ave. and Richard Bayoli St. in the township of Alexandra, I looked out across the  rooftops of the homes of many of our LEAP 3 students. I had this realization, a “knowing,” that the people I am meeting during these days will have a profound impact on all of our lives. The work of transformation — educational, societal, personal — feels like slogging through mud, and sometimes it seems impassable. But other times, it feels otherworldly — full of air and light and joy, rising above. Hard, hard work — by the students, the faculty, the administration, the partners. But the successes are sweet. And so worth it.

The tentative date for the 2010 program is from mid-June through mid-August, 2010. The program will serve LEAP Schools in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. Read the rest of this entry »

In this short video, Teach with Africa Executive Director Amy Schoew talks about the impacts of apartheid on the educational system in South Africa.

John Gilmour, Director of the LEAP Science and Maths Schools, replies:

“This is a very succinct and accurate description of the South African education crisis. Fewer than 20% of South African teachers are fully qualified for the profession. We value the Teach With Africa partnership enormously and believe that we need to do everything possible to take this relationship to scale to help to address the ongoing crisis in our country.”