A New Year: A Renewed Commitment

Every new year offers a new chance to begin, renew, change, start over, and reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going. It gives us the opportunity to ask: who are we and what do we hope to achieve? 2014 is a critical year for the global community: it is the last year before the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight international development goals established at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000.These goals address the world’s most pressing economic, political, social, and environmental challenges. The Second Millennium Development Goal aims to “ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.” The global community has made significant strides in increasing enrollment rates for primary education: school enrollment in developing regions grew from 83 percent to 90 percent between 2000 and 2011, and the number of out-of-school children decreased by almost half–102 million in 2000 to 57 million in 2011. In Ethiopia, enrollment rates reached 92 percent in 2011-2012 for lower primary school (1-4) and 48 percent for upper primary school (5-8). But attendance rates continue to improve at a much lower rate; attendance for primary school rose from 30 percent in 2000-2001 to 64.5 percent in 2010-2011.In addition, attendance rates varied disproportionately according to family wealth and location. While school enrollment and attendance are basic indicators, they do not give us a detailed view of what happens inside schools. This is mainly because both enrollment and attendance focus on “input” in schools rather than “outcomes” of the school. When we look at learning outcomes in the developing world, they have not improved much; globally, an estimated 250 million children of primary age lack basic learning, writing and numeracy skills, whether in school or not. In order to improve this learning crisis, we have to shift our focus from “input” into schools to “outcomes” as a measure of success. We have to ask the most basic question: what are children learning in school? Can they read? Can they write? Can they do basic arithmetic?At the Take-Root Center (TRC), we take an “outcomes” based approach to our teaching. Our goal is not only to improve enrollment and attendance, but to improve the quality of education we provide to our students. We adhere to Seeds Principles in order to deliver quality education to our students. We pride ourselves in being holistic – we try to think of every factor that contributes to a student’s education, and we work to address each of these challenges. We provide primary education free of charge, as well as uniforms, textbooks, school meals, and school supplies to students. As health is important to students’ learning behavior, students receive free health screenings and participate in workshops with our on-site nurse. The integrated, project-based curriculum we implement enriches students’ understanding of lesson material. Subjects such as math, language arts, social studies, and science aren’t neatly divided and separate themes; instead, they are interrelated. For example, when we give a lesson on the vibrant river ecosystem near the TRC, we discuss not only the more obvious environmental and biological topics related to the river, we also write stories about the importance of the river in our daily lives. Students explore the river by painting in watercolors. Students use pebbles and sticks to learn arithmetic or estimate the volume of a section in the river. Students imagine the social impact if the river were to dry up or flood the nearby community. We are fierce advocates for early childhood education. During this crucial period, a student develops language ability, cultivates learning style, and absorbs vast amounts of information.A young child is curious, yearning to experiment and explore his/her surroundings. A young child is a Seed who needs patient and special attention, so we keep classrooms small. We value our students’ individual input; we incorporate their personal experience into our teaching. Making the student the center of teaching and the learning experience allows our students to improve their communication and leadership skills. Therefore, they begin to understand they have a voice and a role to play in society. Their classroom is open for questions, comments, and challenges to improve curriculum. (Our teachers learn too, as students have a lot to teach them.) We give students responsibility because we want them to feel ownership over their learning space. And our students excel because they take pride in THEIR school. We believe in growth – our name alludes to it. So we’re going to build a Dream School, a premiere community institution of learning that will educate 600 students and provide services to their families. That’s a big dream, but we’re not afraid to step up and say it. This new endeavor will be a testament to our students that they shouldn’t be afraid to dream and take risks. In this new year, a continuation of our #YearofDreams, we have a lot to accomplish, but with your support, there’s nothing we can’t take on.