I, James P. Cummings, recently read the book, Life is Messy, by Matthew Kelly. In a chapter titled, “Amazing”, he writes,
“Everyone who really cares about you wants you to flourish. Someone who is flourishing is full of vitality…Flourishing is beyond happiness. It is produced not only by a person’s choices and actions, but also by a nurturing environment specifically designed to bring it about… And don’t men and women of goodwill want this for everyone, even the people they don’t know and will never meet?”
This is what we aim to build at the Kijana Global Innovation School, an environment specifically designed for student and community flourishment. Thank you to all of you, people of goodwill, who are generously giving to others, who you don’t know and will never meet. While we hope you will meet some people here and invite you to meet our community members, together, partners from far away, we are building a more flourishing world. Pictured below right, is Shalim Ruth, who holds a copy of a book donated by the St. Vincent Ferrer School in Delray Beach, Florida. The school donated hundreds of copies of this series on various scientific concepts. We are using them to supplement the regular curricular books. Thank you to all of you, and there are so many who have contributed in various ways to developing this unique and thriving school.
We are proud and grateful, as mentioned in previous communications, that for the second year in a row, Kijana is an anthem award winner. This year, however, instead of a single Silver Award for our Care, Share and Explore program, we won SIX awards (three silver awards and three community voice awards). The three silver awards were for the Kijana Global Innovation School, the Care, Share and Explore program, and for the Kijana Heroes poster series. For each award, we also won a Community Voice award, for getting the most votes of support from our grassroots supporters. We shared the news with our team in Kenya and brought the silver statuettes over from the United States to share with our team. As you can see, our team members are joyful for the recognition. Thank you to all of you who have contributed to allow us to build Kijana, the school, and our unique and powerful educational programs.
One of the innovative hallmarks of our Kijana Global Innovation School is the creative and artistic design of the school environment. Our unique zigzag classroom design, ideated by Kijana Vice-President, Bruce Huber and created with the oversight of Kijana architect, Jeremiah Awori, forms a foundation for architectural creativity. Our school is also home to numerous creative educational murals, recycled glass art and furniture from Nani’s Kitengela Glass and Anselm’s Kitengela Glass and a flourishing green landscape full of trees and flowers. In the last few weeks, local artist, Jesse Otukho, has continued his restoration of some of the previous collaborative works. This time, he completely repainted the original set of biomes murals, which were losing their luster. The newly refreshed series adds to the beauty and inspirational environment of the school. I believe that beautiful educational surroundings contribute to a significantly enhanced student experience, adding energy, creativity, and optimism to learning. This view was enhanced and strengthened by my early teaching experience at The Prairie School, in Racine, WI, where a premium is placed on creative architecture, the arts and aesthetics.
April was a historic month for Kijana as we welcomed our first former fellow WorldTeach volunteer, Ethan Bloomberg, from the August 1987 group of volunteers as a visitor to the Global Innovation School. It was that experience with WorldTeach that set James P. Cummings on his path to founding Kijana and the Kijana Global Innovation School.
Ethan Bloomberg, who was one of 28 initial August 1987 volunteers from the United States, visited our school for a day with his family. We hope this is the beginning of more former WorldTeach volunteers to return and see and collaborate in investing in the region’s people, who created such a welcoming environment for us as young adults out exploring and finding our career and life paths. He lives in the Boston area and had previously shared a set of the Kijana Heroes Poster Series with his daughter’s school. The school displayed the posters for the month of February and recently they were still on display. We enjoyed sharing stories and memories with him and his family. We look forward to future collaboration with Ethan and family and continue to welcome others to our school and community.
We also have taken advantage of another American human resource, Mark Leggiero, who also hails from Florida and has been serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the local community since January 2024. He is teaching science at a local high school and is an expert at 3D printing and other technology. With that knowledge in mind, we purchased a few 3D printers, which arrived recently. Mark has generously shared his time, knowledge, and talent with us, by setting up the first one and teaching some of our staff how to use it. Our teachers have begun by creating chess pieces to play chess. We anticipate that the 3D printers will help form the basis of the ability to teach more graphic arts in the future. To our knowledge, the Kijana Global Innovation School now holds the only 3D printers in Kakamega County and several surrounding counties.
“Through sharing and exploring, we learn, find appreciation, and grow toward a better world.-
James P. Cummings
For the second year in a row, Kijana is a winner in the Anthem Awards, an annual competition, which recognizes “purpose and mission driven work throughout the world.” This year, we won THREE Silver Awards. We have been recognized in the realms of Education, Arts and Culture, and Sustainability, Environment and Climate. The Anthem Awards, produced by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), recognized the Kijana Global Innovation School, our Care, Share and Explore Program, and our Kijana Heroes Poster Series. Additionally, we won the Community Voice Awards for each of our entries in their respective categories. The Community Voice Awards were awarded to the organization that rallied the most individuals in their support base to vote for them. Because of our deep grassroots relationship building in Kenya over a few decades, multitudes of our beneficiaries worked to respond with votes for Kijana. Please see the following links to learn more about Kijana’s awards, as well as the overall winners:
- Kijana Heroes Poster Series – Kijana Educational Empowerment Initiative – Special Projects Winner – Anthem Awards
- Kijana Global Innovation School – Kijana Educational Empowerment Initiative – Community Space Winner – Anthem Awards
- Kijana Educational Empowerment Initiative – Community Outreach Winner – Anthem Awards
Click on the following page to see a list of all the Inaugural Community Voice Award winners, including Kijana Educational Empowerment Initiative.
Anthem winners page: See the Anthem 2024 main winners page to see other awardees.
At Kijana, we believe that our world needs problem-solvers and community craftsmen or craftspeople. We need future citizens who will forge a better world for us with a spirit of caring, sharing and exploring. Our junior secondary school students are learning chess. Chess teaches multiple critical thinking skills, including: problem-solving, abstract reasoning, calmness under pressure, patience, sportsmanship, creative thinking, pattern recognition, visualization, openings, and much more. Through our unique Care, Share and Explore program students are taking action to connect with their community to build a greener future. Collectively, students are planting and growing tree seedlings, exploring their environment and reflecting upon their place and relationship with the natural world.
Since the Kijana Global Innovation School’s initial development in 2020, we have been committed to creating a unique, comfortable and inviting learning environment for students. The central collaborative team in this development has included Kijana President James Cummings, Palm Beach County graphic artist, Claire Salmon and Kenyan artist, Jesse Otukho. Additionally, Nani, of Nani’s Kitengela Glass, and her team have infused many beautiful glass structures that we commissioned.
In an effort to connect our current and potential donors more concretely to the school and gather more resources for further artistic development, we have created an opportunity for you to recognize a loved one or yourself by sponsoring a piece of artwork. The attached document profiles ALL the murals and recycled glass creations with naming donation amounts. The collection now amounts to almost 60 elements, with more in the works.
Please peruse it and consider donating and adding your name permanently at the school, while providing resources for further development. We think you will be amazed by the vast array of works, all on display at the school.
Please see the linked document. We recommend downloading the document for easier reading.
Select an artwork you would like to sponsor.
You can also give online. Please donate on the School Development and Expansion Campaign and make a note on the Givebutter page ro send an email to; kijana@kijana.org and let us know the item you would like to sponsor and have donated for.
We hope you enjoy exploring the art as much as we did creating it and our students do interacting with it. Thank you!
Students and faculty are excited as they prepare for another “Care, Share, and Explore” expedition, which will be taking place next week. Over one hundred students, and teachers from the Kijana Global Innovation School and two other local public schools, Buchenya Primary School and Eshirumba Primary School will be heading to central Kenya in our school buses and additional hired vans. The group will be visiting Kariandusi Museum, Lake Elementaita Wildlife Sanctuary, Egerton Farms, Njoro Caves, Menangai Crater, Soysambu Conservancy, Naviasha Raptor Center and Lake Bogoria. They will be staying at Tumaini cottages. Students in grades 3-7 will be participating. Below are two photos from the most recent excursion to central Kenya. These expeditions are an opportunity for students to see the beautiful country of Kenya, take part in team building activities, get to know their peers and teachers in outside the classroom environments, develop a respect and appreciation for the outdoors and each other and develop skills in problem solving. They will return rejuvenated and with minds enriched by new experiences. Oliver Wendall Holmes said, a “mind stretched by a new experience never goes back to its original dimension.” That is what we are doing at the Kijana Global Innovation School: expanding minds to new dimensions and finding avenues for those widened minds to build a better world.
Kenya has an extremely strong culture of encouraging and supporting education and educational advancement of their youth. An element of that commitment is a tradition of holding a prayer day before taking the national exams. In addition to holding a pre-primary graduation last week, we held a prayer day for 6th and 8th graders who are beginning to take national exams in the days and weeks ahead. It is a multi-week process: taking the exams and a serious undertaking by students, families and the nation as a whole. Please keep our students in mind during the next several weeks. They are investing much mental and social energy in this endeavor and their success on the exams has a significant bearing on their future paths.
On October 24th, the Kijana Global Innovation School held its 3rd pre-primary (Kindergarten) grade level graduation. Twenty-four students graduated and will advance to first grade. It was a joyous occasion filled with happy parents and members of the community. As a recognition of their accomplishments, and appreciation and demonstration of Kijana’s strong commitment to a sustainable green environment, tree seedlings were given to all families who attended the graduation ceremony. The ceremony including honoring top performing academic students. Graduates also marched with the school band from the school to the town of Sabatia.
We are pleased to share with you the good news: we are receiving another grant from the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters, of Wheaton, IL to continue the “Care, Share and Explore” program. This will be the third year of the program and it has brought so much opportunity for exploration for our students and students in other schools in the community and beyond. Recently the pre-primary and primary students travelled to Kisumu and visited Lake Victoria, the Impala Park, Kisumu International Airport, a small amusement park and had the opportunity to eat in a restaurant. In about a month, we will be taking more excursions as the 2023 school year ends. Additionally, through our collaborative tree growing and planting program, we have grown close to 1.5 million trees in two years in partnership with 43 schools in Kenya.
Twenty-one years ago in September, we registered Kijana in the state of Florida. We have come a long way since then. It has been a journey, a journey of exploration in changing lives. Four years ago this month, we started construction on the first classroom buildings. Today we have a beautiful school of 183 students and 35+ faculty and staff and have had over 35 international visitors over the last few years.
At the Kijana Global Innovation School, we believe that education involves the whole person, and that ultimate learning takes place through reflection and connection and appreciation for both the natural environment and the built environment. We aim to have our students interact and collaborate with their peers within the school, at other schools and with community members. Exploring and sharing ideas and strategies advances student skills and the skills of others and strengthens and improves local, national, and global communities.
We are happy to share the exciting news that Rosarian Academy teacher, Mildred Acosta, was recently named Educator of the Year in the private school category for Palm Beach County by Palm Beach Illustrated magazine. In the 2023-24 school year, there are 146 private schools in the county, which serve over 31,000 students. Mrs. Acosta and her son, Santino, volunteered at the Kijana Global Innovation School in the summer of 2022. Mrs. Acosta collaborated with a Kijana school teacher, Ms. Mercy Amoke, to develop a hands-on environmental learning program using the Dr. Seuss book, The Lorax as a base. We are grateful for her service to both the Kijana Global Innovation School students and community and to Rosarian Academy students and community and to our shared values of international collaboration. Learn more about Mildred and her selection as Palm Beach County Educator of the Year. Awards were also presented in the categories of Outstanding Academic Program, Award for Institutional Excellence, and The Innovation Award. We are grateful for all educators who work tirelessly and contribute mightily to the advancement of our local and global society.
Kenya is a beautiful country with amazing people. Our students are exploring it through the continuing “Care, Share and Explore” Program. Kenyan schools were closed in August for a two-week break and we took advantage of the time by taking the 3rd through 8th grade students and many of our teachers on another exploratory expedition. Students hiked in Mount Longonot National Park, visited Lord Egerton Castle, explored geology at the Kariandusi Diatomite mines, participated in team building activities, shared stories over campfires, went swimming again and gained first-hand knowledge of a new region of the beautiful country of Kenya.
Below, Everlyne Akolo (grade 8) shares reflections of her experience at Nakuru.
“During the August holiday, our school organized for us a trip to Nakuru. Sincerely, I have never been there. I knew that I had a lot to learn. After a distance of about two hundred kilometers, we arrived in Tumaini Cottages and Conference Centre where we camped. The place was very fantabulous.
The next morning, we began our journey to Mount Longonot. Our teachers had informed us about that. After a very short distance from the camping site, we finally arrived. We were welcomed by the tour guides who were going to inform us about the mountain. The mountain was 3.5 kilometers high. It last erupted in the 1860s, so it is a dormant volcano. After being told that, we began the hike. After hiking for almost 2.5 kilometers, some of us were very tired. Some even went back to the main gate. I decided to struggle and finally reached Olongonot crater. The distance around the rim was 7.2 kilometers and a diameter of 2.6 kilometers. You can imagine how big it was. After discussing about it, we took photos and went back to the main gate.
The next day, we began our journey to Lake Nakuru National Park. My first animal that I saw was an impala. A male impala is very polygamous. The male impalas have horns, while the female doesn’t. The male impala has to fight the others, so that it can inherit the female ones. We were also told about the flamingoes. We have the greater and lesser flamingoes. The lesser flamingoes are pinkish in colour, while the greater flamingoes are whitish in colour. You will mostly find them at the lake’s shores We also saw the giraffes. One kick of a giraffe can kill a lion. The lion sleeps for twenty hours. Indeed, I had really learnt a lot.
On the third day, we began by a little bit of exercise. We played games and danced good songs. After that, we began our journey to Kariandusi. My first time I heard about Kariandusi was when we were learning social studies. We finally arrived at the mine. It is used to make water filters and heat insulators.
We departed from the mine and went to Lord Egerton Castle where we learnt the history of Morris Egerton. The construction of the castle ended in 1952. The house had fifty-two rooms. You can imagine how big it was. His house was a no-go-zone for women. He owned almost 80 percent of the Nakuru city.
We had really learnt a lot. I would like to thank the people who sponsored our tour. I am very grateful.”
Andre Madison, a 2023 graduate of Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, who volunteered in the summer of 2022, returned to the Kijana Global Innovation School in the last few weeks to continue teaching music and share time and experiences with members of our school community. Working mostly with our new music and karate teacher, Matthews Were, he continued the efforts to teach students the descant recorder. All our students (grade 3 and above), now have their own descant recorder as a primary instrument to developing musical skills. Andre Madison and Matthews Were are pictured above with students and their descante recorders.
Andre writes:
“My goals for this visit varied from last year as I focused on introducing the descant recorder to the younger students at the school, teaching grades 3,4,5,6, and 7 numerous lessons on the recorder, and in turn learning from the students and teachers myself. I am very proud of the incredible progress the students have made in their recorder studies as it was evident that they had done their fair share of practicing in my absence. This allowed me to teach them more advanced exercises and pieces, leaving them with an increased technical understanding of the instrument. I cannot wait to see what progress they make by next year! Throughout my stay I had the chance to work with numerous faculty and staff including Lawrence Inonda, the school photographer, teachers Martin, Mallack, Julius, and George. I also had the wonderful opportunity to work alongside the new talented music instructor, Matthews, as we worked collaboratively on continuing the descant recorder program here at the Kijana School. In addition to teaching the descant recorder in preparation for competitive exams every year, Teacher Matthews incorporates traditional Luhya and Luo instruments such as the marimba alongside the recorder in an unusual cross-cultural collaboration of East and West, creating an impressive, well rounded and hybrid music curriculum for the students at the Kijana Global Innovation School. He is also an accomplished karate instructor. I look forward to returning a third time to the Kijana Global Innovation School in 2024, I plan then to incorporate keyboards, guitars, and other instruments to further create a learning environment that reflects Kijana’s holistic vision of education in the arts for all students and faculty. I encourage others to travel to the Kijana Global Innovation School and community. It is a welcoming, comfortable, enjoyable and rewarding place to spend time. I have gained so much from this experience, and I know many others can too.”
We are excited to share with you the news that we have turned the extra classroom in the Gail and James Cummings Junior Secondary School Building (which we won’t need as a classroom until January 2025) into a temporary library to house our collection of books and provide a more appropriate and accessible room for students to explore books and develop their literary skills. We continue to be in the midst of our Library and Media Center Campaign and with your support, hope to break ground in within a few months or in January of 2024 on the future library/media center and amphitheater, designed as a collaborative effort with Harpreet Dhaliwal, Christopher Dameron and Jeremiah Awori as the key architects.
Kijana’s talented and energetic teaching team has been busy creating the best learning environment possible for our students. Self-made classroom posters with positive and uplifting messages have been developed and displayed. Note the picture which includes the messages: “Good friends play together, listen, help each other, tell stories, (are) kind, and care.” We can learn here in the United States and as adults from the messages displayed at the Kijana Global Innovation School.
The Kijana Global Innovation School and the Mulusi Village communities were blessed this summer to host thirteen visitors from the larger Scarola family of Palm Beach County, Florida (including members of the Hansen, Bischoff and Kirk families). They spent a week volunteering at the school and in the community and infused additional cross-cultural collaborative spirit into the school and beyond. In advance of visiting, the extended family members teamed up to raise more than $11,000 which funded new science equipment and furniture for the temporary science lab, along with furniture for our temporary library and allowed us to invest in an improved electrical transformer. Furthermore, they arrived with loads of goodies (sports equipment, STEM resources, soccer balls, volleyballs, frisbees, games and more).
Their visit contributes to advancing a key element in our vision, building cross-cultural connections with American school communities. For Cara and Patrick Hansen, the visit was also a reunion of sorts as they had volunteered sixteen years ago at Ebusiloli Secondary School, in an informal volunteer opportunity developed through Kijana President James P. Cummings. The two have numerous connections at schools in Palm Beach County and Patrick is just starting a new position as Assistant Principal at St. Clare Elementary School, in North Palm Beach. They will share with you that they gained as much from the experience as our school students and teachers did. We are most grateful for their initiative, and exploratory and caring spirits. It is amazing how a week at the Kijana Global Innovation School can make a world of difference at both ends.
As part of our quest to bring a variety of learning experiences to our students, we recently introduced karate, under the guidance of a newly hired teacher, Mr. Matthews Were. Students and the community members are happy to have this opportunity to learn a skill and art developed in another part of the world. See Global Innovation School students give a karate demonstration: https://youtu.be/gwkw7JL-Uh0
Black History Month is celebrated each year during the month of February. In recognition of this celebration, Kijana is proud to welcomed ten new honorees to our KIjana Heroes Poster series. The series now includes 60 heroes. We anticipate to add more hereos to the collection soon. See and read more about the 10 highlighted here, as well as all honorees by clicking on the following link: https://kijana.org/kijanaheroes/
The campus is abuzz and full of life as students returned to school on January 31st. Growth is the optimal word when describing what is happening at the Global Innovation School. Enrollment numbers are rising, new teachers and staff members have been hired. Also, new courses, technology and activities are being offered to enhance the student learning experiences. In addition, ongoing campus beautification and construction of a new Junior Secondary classroom/laboratory bulding, and playground area is in full swing.
The school’s reopening included a week that involved welcoming back returning students and families, as well as admitting new students following a well-deserved holiday break. Current enrollment is 172 students, and we anticipate that number to be 200 this year.
Here are some of the highlights from opening week and what’s new at the school. A new librarian was hired and is in the process of recording books and other curricular resources Kijana has attained for the new school year. Opening exams for our grade 8 candidates has begun. Last school year, student performance on the exams was exemplary and was validated by the scores they individually and collectively achieved. A Karate instructor and classroom teacher, Mathews Musebe was hired. Mr. Musebe began giving karate lessons to grades 1 and 2. Soon, training classes will be available to all grade levels. Karate is a new extracurricular that is designed to enrich the physical and mental well-being of our students.
This year is off to a rousing start and the students, families, local communites and communities throughout Kenya that Kijana serves will be impacted in so many positive ways as the organization and school strives to serve and fulfill its mission to serve others for the benifit of humankind and the planet we all share.
Kijana is working hard to meet the demands of a growing Junior secondary studentry at the Global Innovation School. Junior secondary education serves as a bridge between primary and secondary school for students aged 12 to 14 years. Junior secondary school involves Grades 7, 8 and 9. As a result, contruction of a new Junior Secondary School building was essential to keep pace with this new reality.
Kijana’s Global Innovation School has experienced substantial growth since opening in January 2020 with 15 students. As of early February 2023, school enrollment is 172 students. However, due to increasing demand for quality education, we anticipate that enrollment will exceed 200 students some time this year.
In 2022, Kijana’s generous donors provided the required funding needed to start the project. In October 2022, under the guidance and determination of Project Manager and Director, Ebby Shiroya, the structure went from pre-foundation to a functioning classroom building housing students by the end of January 2023.
A major part of Kijana’s overall vision is developing a creative, imaginative, and collaborative curriculum in an architecturally unique setting. Kijana is constantly in pursuit of excellence regarding ways to provide outstanding academic learning programs and experiential enrichment activities encapsulated in a distinctive physical environment.
Our Junior Secondary School classroom/laboratory building progresses and is nearing completion. The construction of the school has provided many employment opportunites throughout the area. Workers have been busy with some of the following:
- laying terrazzo flooring
- electrical wiring of classes
- fitting gutters
- playground leveling the new playground and adjacent fields for students, and
- plastering of classroom walls
In addition, classrooms within the Junior Secondary School building have been adourned with:
- white boards
- desks and tables and much more
- smart board tecchnology to be installed soon.
All of these efforts will culminate in the completion of a creative and functional sturcture that will aid students in the development of their eductional journey at the Global Innovation School.
Februrary exploratory activites have already started at the Global Innovation school. The Care, Share and Explore leadership team consisting of; Prideluck Ubagah, Mathews Musebe, Brigit Mbaria and Lawrence Inonda “hit the trails” with student groups.
On the nature trail, exploring our environment was the theme of the adventures. On February 1st, a group of 1st and 2nd graders observed and noted what they saw and heard as the explored the environment near the school campus. They made paint brushes using evergreen leaves, twigs and flowers and were shown how to use the brushes they creaated. Students drew colorful images of what they saw. They also carried bottles with them and put sand, stones or seeds in them. Students shook the bottles to create musical tones while they walked the trails.
On February 2nd, it was grades 3 and 4 who ventured out to observe nature. Students were asked to identify; what they saw in the sky, describe the weather conditions, note different water sources they encountered, and state what animals, insects and plants they witnessed. Like grades 1 and 2, the students made paint brushes and drew and colored in some of the images that impacted them during their journey.
The last group of the first week of February was, gardes 5,6 and 8. As students walked and observed, they; identified types of plants, collected leaves and parts of flowers. They also identifyed insects, observed the sky and described what they saw in it. In addition, students created “nature impressions” in clay from the leaaves, seeds, stones, twigs, etc. they collected along the way. Like other grades, they made paint brushes from what they gathered and used them to create colorful images that stood out from their expoloration.
The above experiential excursions are so beneficial and impactful to wholistic education that Kijana and the Global Innovation School fully embraces and incorporates on a practical level.
We have been constructing the new two-story classroom/laboratory structure earnestly and rapidly. The vast majority of this was completed in the last month-since the first week of October. We spent August and early September preparing the ground and the initial foundational work. About 25 young men have been employed on a daily basis and the work for them is much needed as work in this area is very hard to come by. By investing in this community with school construction, it is allowing people to put their skills to work, advance their talents and obtain consistent income. As can be seen in the above photos, many materials have been needed and purchased as well, including sand, cement, gravel, rebar, timber, and much more. While the global economy has been beset with some challenges of late, the present circumstances have led to a strong dollar which is working in our favor. The strong dollar is allowing contributions to Kijana for this project and other needed expenses to stretch far. Once completed, the combination classroom/laboratory building will house three classrooms, a science laboratory and another multi-purpose laboratory and serve as the initial fulcrum of our Junior Secondary School. It was designed in consultation with our key architectural friends, Harpreet Dhaliwal, of BKSK Architects (New York City) and Christopher Dameron, of Dameron Architecture (New York City). Jeremiah Awori, of Vihiga County, is the lead architect and contractor on the ground and Ebby Shiroya, our multi-talented and super energetic all-around school development leader is the project manager. Our local team is working tirelessly to make this a reality for the students. Thank you to all who have dug deep and contributed to make this new and most valuable capital resource a reality. You have boosted so many lives in meaningful ways. We need continued and immediate support to keep the work progressing.
Kijana Global Innovation School students had the opportunity to go swimming recently at a local swimming pool. This was part of the new educational curriculum in the nation which emphasizes hands-on learning and competency in active engaged skill-based learning. Our students clearly enjoyed the experience and we anticipate bringing them back in the future. We also aim to begin a competitive swimming program in the future. As we all know, swimming is a vital life skill and it is also a common sport in more advanced Kenyan schools. We continue to seek and implement ways to expose our students to more varied skill development opportunities, which creates a more holistic learning environment.
