Education
SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN
A New Dimension Of Hope(NDHOPE) school project seeks to give the children of Mehmeh town unlimited opportunities to improve their reading, writing, and social emotional health. Our goal is to create the next generation of leaders in Mehmeh, by tapping into the amazing potential of the young men and women who will help transform their country, using education as the means to positive social change. For our students to reach a point of self- actualization, there must be a concentrated effort to create a strong sense of self, community cohesion, and social and emotional well-being. The children in Mehmeh town are barely a generation removed from a civil war which left their country impoverished, exploited, and vulnerable to the societal ramifications of a war-torn country. As a result, education has become a luxury not afforded by all children, young girls in particular. Low literacy rates are an additional outcome, and malnutrition has severely impacted the all aspects of life for Liberians. As a result, A New Dimension of Hope’s curriculum includes a holistic, learner-centered pedagogy focused on the whole person – self, relationships, resilience, and aesthetics to instill a new culture of thinking through critical thinking, reflection and action, and self-actualization.. For our students to reach a pointof self- actualization, there must be a concentrated effort to create a strong sense of self, community cohesion, and social and emotional well-being.
Without hope we perish. Liberia is a symbol of what can happen when the essence of change is based on perseverance, collaboration, and hope. It is evident that Liberia serves as a beacon to its neighboring countries, and the world with regard to the power of hope. Liberia is the first country on the continent of Africa to elect a woman to lead a country. President Sirleaf’s election is a symbol of how progress can be made in the most unlikely of circumstances. That being said, A New Dimension of Hope’s curriculum is designed to highlight the three most essential areas of need in Liberia. Social Emotional Health, Literacy, and Physical Health.
Social Emotional Health - Dreamers Journaling
Studies reveal the 14 year civil war has left a significant portion of the population suffering from post-war traumatic symptoms. This makes it critical that our teachers are equipped with the skills to aid students in the healing process. Our Dreamers Journalingcurriculum is designed to promote healing through a year-long journaling process that incorporates reflection, acceptance, and forward progress. Students use theme based prompts to express themselves using poetry, drawing, creative writing, and unscripted “free write” journaling to address their social and emotional health. We want Hope’s children inspired to dream big, and take a step each day toward their goals. In addition, each class will start each day in a community circle where they have the opportunity to share a positive experience, a need, or a goal for the day. Concluding with the school motto:
Today I will; Help a classmate be a better person.
Open my door to success by working as hard as I can.
Persevere through anything, for I know that I am strong and mighty.
Entrust and respect my teachers as they guide my journey.
A goal of this program is to equip our students to be ambassadors for change, and at some point create written and visual materials that they can share via our Hope’s Kids Pen Pals program.
LITERACY: “READ WITH EXPECTANCY”
According to the Ministry of Education’s 2008-2009 National School Census Report, Liberia has an approximate literacy rate of 58%, and though English is the country’s official language, there are upwards of 16 local languages. The report further states that 34% of 2ndgraders could not read one word, and the need for qualified teachers is a real concern.
As a result, Read with Expectancyincorporates a scope and sequence approach that is repetitious, and unique to the classroom skill level. Letter recognition, rhythm and rhyme, along with phonemic awareness /sound isolation is the basis used to engage pre-readers. Phonics, grammar, critical thinking skills, and engaging text are the additional aspects of the curriculum. “Read Alouds” and a strategically designed phonics program will be used to support both developmental readers as English Language Learners. For example, beginning with single consonants that have distinct regular sounds, short vowel sounds, and syllabication practice will be daily activities for Hope’s children. To ensure that Read with Expectancyis a success, a hands-on, visual, interactive strategy is a necessity. Active engagement for both educator and student will support measurable change in the student’s literacy rate.
PHYSICAL HEALTH: “DIMENSIONS OF CHANGE”
Food security, stunted growth, and malnutrition are severe problems in Liberia. Both the math and science portion of the curriculum will use agriculture, self- sustainability, and practical hands-on activities to support the student growth. Basic principles of counting, number sense, computation, math facts, and mathematical rules are the building blocks of the math curriculum, which will span each K-6 classroom. Practical math application is the goal of Dimensions of Change, our students will be able to make direct connections between mathematical concepts, and real world application. The science curriculum is designed to engage students using problem solving, long-term planning, and gardening. Earth science is the foundation of the science curriculum, geography and social studies are intrinsic to the curriculum design. The entire school will take part in cultivating a community garden, and classroom studies focus on the plant cycle, photosynthesis, weather patterns and other relevant topics.Dimensions of Changewill us the economic and social conditions of the surrounding community, coupled with the collective culture intrinsic to Liberia to reinforce the goal of using education as a form of social justice.