Gallery – Packer’s 2016 Visit

This past July another cohort of Packer teachers traveled to the Samburu Region, Kenya to visit the Ndonyo Wasin Primary School for ten days. Liz Aberback (1st grade) and Tim Jensen (4th grade) returned with new travelers Kazia Musial-Aderer (3rd Grade), Greg Benedis-Grab (Chair of Academic Technology and Computer Science), and Ali Iberraken (Upper School Dean and Science). What ensued was a trip that continued to build on our relationships with the teachers and students at the Ndonyo Wasin Primary School, as well as expanding and deepening our learning about the functions and roles of the school and village itself.

Our ten day visit began with a warm welcome from newly appointed Head of the School, Julius Lchokuta, and an invitation to a PTA Meeting, a twice a semester community gathering. Saturday morning we made our way from camp to school where we took a seat amongst all of the students at the school, their mothers, fathers, and grandparents, who had travelled from near and far villages. Each standard (grade) performed a song and dance. Administrators and teachers spoke about the important role of education and their desire to continue the recent growth of the number of students attending the school. Parents and village representatives had a chance to ask questions and voice concerns. The meeting also celebrated the students from each standard with the two highest scores on their most recent tests receiving, alongside their parents, a gift.

During the rest of the week we shared our time working with the teachers and students on lessons from their curriculum combined with extensions from each Packer teacher’s area of specialty. Kazia worked with Standard 4 and their teacher Ezekial to plan out and begin a creative writing unit, using animal legends and storyboards to start the immersion process. Liz worked with Standards 1 , 2, and 3 and their teachers Mr. Joseph, Ms. Helen, Ms. Eunice, and Ms.Niceta to create maps of their school and village, and portraits of faculty and family members. Ali worked with the Standard 8 class on a variety of physics experiments, Greg could be found working amongst a huddle of students and teachers on computers, teaching and learning Swahili. Tim Jensen continued where he left off in last year’s trip to lead a debate around the question, “Should classes at Ndonyo Wasin be taught in the Samburu language?” (the students resoundingly said, “No!”), and worked with Ndonyo Wasin math teachers.

Back at our camp, we had the privilege of spending a lot of time with the warriors who were our hosts for the week and other members of the village who regularly dropped by. We enjoyed eating together, sharing games of Bao (mancala) and frisbee, stories, and expressions from our different cultures. They guided us on long walks throughout the village, meeting entire families, getting to see a lot of new construction and technological advances that were occurring. On Wednesday we went to the weekly market where members of the village and villages far away convene to both sell, buy, and enjoy a drink in a café with friends. Vegetables, for example, must be purchased at the market since they cannot be grown in the arid soil around Ndonyo Wasin. Julius took us to spend time at a nearby preschool under the spreading branches of a thorn tree, from which students often continue on to the Ndonyo Wasin Primary School. We ended our week sharing a final dinner with the Ndonyo Wasin teachers at our camp.

Though short, our trip was full of a deep building of relationships and learning with teachers, students, and village members. We are excited to share all about it with you, the Packer Community!

Liz leads a reading group in the library

Tim teaching similar triangles