By Sharon Runge and James Musyoka | Executive Director and Field Director
Our BRCK KioKit has arrived at the Learning Resource Center! This indestructable black-box kit includes a content rich server and 40 tablets with headphones. The Kenya Connect team is determined that this would provide an additional rich experience for our students that would enhance their classroom learning and provide them with resources and materials not available at our 44 primary and 11 secondary schools. This past week we had The School Fund secondary students test it out while on their school break. As James Musyoka wrote, "We were marveled by how the class was so quiet with each student wearing their headphones and super engaged. The students did not seem to want to leave the LRC and we had to tell them to go." These secondary schools students will be studying at the Learning Resource Center during the next two weeks of August for tutoring in math, chemistry, and biology and will also have the opportunity to borrow books and to spend additional time using the educational resources on the BRCK Kio Kit.
The TSF aslo recieved solar lights to help them study while at home. In addition to meeting with the TSF students, the Kenya Connect staff met with their parents to discuss the students' progress and share the ways the students can benefit from Kenya Connect resources. The parents were so excited that they suggested a Parent Council be created to help further support the work.
Our community based approach would not be possible without donors like you. Your generous gifts allows our staff to develop programs and new approaches to support students in rural Kenya who face so many obstacles and challenges to education.
In addition to the KioKit, Kenya Connect is piloting the use of the Rachel Plus device, a content rich server that can connect to any electronic device--- a laptop, tablet, or smart phone. The Rachel Plus server provides world class curriculum with interactive lessons and modules to practice concepts, wikipedia, TED talks, animated books and print stories and a plethora of additional materials. In July, our staff met with the Wamunyu Curiculum Development Officer and headmasters to share the Rachel Plus. The Headmasters were excited to see the many possibilities and are looking forward to borrowing if for their schools.
The Kenya Connect staff is also developing ways to best support teachers in the primary schools who have received government issued tablets for standrard one (grade 1) students. Sadly, many teachers do not know how to use the technology so the tablets are sitting unused in locked closets. Our team is working to provide training and support to ensure that students in Wamunyu are not being left behind.
We are deeply grateful to you for being a donor to Kenya Connect. Every dollar helps continue our work that is changing lives by breaking barriers to education and providing resources that would not be available to the 17,000 students we serve in rural Kenya.
As we say in Kenya, Asante Sana marafiki!
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