I want to take the opportunity to express my thanks for being included in this “quest.” Rarely has a group of extremely talented young people like this been gathered in one place and given almost carte blanche to do important humanitarian work in an area where the needs are so great. For me to be part of this at this time in my life was a great honor.

TWA now has a body of work that will guide it as it morphs and grows. Your meetings now and in the future will help determine the direction which TWA-LEAP takes. I expect that LEAP-TWA will experience tremendous growth over the next few years, perhaps as a “third tier” of schools in Africa, similar to the charter schools in America.

As always, I am available to you to consult on any issue and would be honored to continue to be included in your discussions. I think we learned a lot this year and I would like to continue to emphasize the need for regular team meetings (in country) and debriefing sessions at the end of each tour in S.A. TWA is an amazing organization and your guidance and vision have been central to its success. Once again, thank you for this opportunity. I am sure that I speak for the whole team in expressing this gratitude.

Jack O’Neill

Last Sunday, I attended the convocation of returning fellows, accompanying staff and other support staff involved in this [Teach with Africa 2008 Summer Fellows] project. Each fellow spoke in very evocative and personal ways about their experience at the Leap School and other organizations in the area.

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Caught in a relaxed moment

Margie and Amy,

We’re coming to the end of Teach With Africa’s first period of work in schools and communities of Cape Town. It suddenly seems to be upon us that everybody is leaving and now we become more aware of the enormous work that has been done by each of the fellows of Teach With Africa.

Yesterday we had another staff meeting where three Teach With Africa fellows addressed the meeting and once again challenged and excited the staff of the LEAP Science and Maths Schools to be more creative, more in touch, more innovative and more aware. What a gift to hear Laura and Chrissy work together in a presentation that focussed on appropriate classroom skills and management techniques to optimize the full range of emotional styles and learning styles of students. They worked us through a workshop in which we identified our own learning styles and this was extremely valuable for all the teachers of both schools 1 and 2. Read the rest of this entry »