We’re thrilled to share that the 2024 Anthem Awards Finalists were announced on Tuesday, October 15th, 2024!
Kijana was an Anthem Award winner in the 2nd and 3rd Annual Competitions (2022 and 2023).
Now, we are proud and pleased to announce that Five Kijana entries have been selected as finalists for the 4th Annual Anthem Awards. The finalist entries include; Two categories-Four entries within Education, Art and Culture, and One entry for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. They are as follows:
- Kijana Educational Empowerment Initiative: Growing our Brand selected in Education, Art & Culture – Best Strategy.
- Kijana Global Innovation School: Developing a Unique Learning Environment selected in Education, Art & Culture – Innovation.
- Kijana Global Innovation School: Developing a Unique Learning Environment selected in Education, Art & Culture – Partnership or Collaboration.
- Kijana Enrollment Growth Strategy selected in Education, Art & Culture – Business Strategy.
- Kijana Global Innovation School: Developing a Unique Learning Environment selected in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – Innovation.
Winners for the 4th Annual Anthem Awards will be announced Tuesday, November 19th. We will keep you posted once the results have been announced.
We welcomed a somewhat spur of the moment visitor from the United States recently: Allegra Chatterjee Gang visited our school and worked with our teachers and Care, Share, and Explore team for two weeks. Allegra’s visit was made possible by the encouragement of our mutual friend and longtime supporter, Catherine Broadhead, who connected us. She follows more than two score of international guests and explorers we have been blessed with visitations and collaboration by and with over the last 5 years. In the photos, she is pictured with her new friend, Alpha, a nephew of Kijana President James Cummings and School Director Ebby Shiroya Cummings, who is also in the lower photo. Alpha became quite attached to Allegra. Swahili people have a saying, “Mgeni ni mtumwa wa mwenye nyumba.” A visitor is like rain (it does not stay). But also a visitor is welcome like rain in a scorched land.
Allegra says, “the kids are ABSOLUTELY beyond special.” And of one of our students, who she interviewed, she commented, “the kid is BRILLIANT. Retains information like a sponge and is able to seamlessly synthesize and express sentiments incorporating new concepts he has been exposed to during the field trip. So unbelievably impressed… Imagine the heights he can reach if opportunities open up to him. I am certain he will go far!!! And so humble and gracious, too. “
We welcome more of you to come and enjoy and learn from the uplifting culture, joyful spirit and wisdom of Kenyans and East Africans.
Our signature Care, Share, and Explore program continues to enhance the learning experiences for our students and teachers. Students recently ventured to central Kenya and had the awesome opportunity to explore Aberdare National Park, Menangai National Park, Nairobi National Park, Charis Farm, the Giraffe Center and Hyrax Hill Museum. They learned about biodiversity, various conservation efforts, history and archeology, sustainable farming practices and developed skills in team building, leadership, physical fitness and well-being. One hundred and fourteen students and teachers participated (93 students, 15 teachers and care, share and explore staff members, 3 cooks and 3 drivers). The multi-year program has been made possible by generous grants from the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters, of Wheaton, Illinois and our students and families are most grateful. Students will remember these life-changing experiential education opportunities for the rest of their lives.
We are overjoyed and proud to share the news that at the National Music Festival Finals recently in Eldoret, our Kijana student Dawyne Annointed took 12th place the whole country of Kenya in his category. Dawayne is in pre-primary one and is 4 years old and was competing against students who were five and six, so this is an incredible accomplishment. Thank you to all of you who encouraged him and especially with the digital success card (YouTube), several of you joined in creating. A big asante sana as well to his teacher, Susan Manshar and all the Kijana Global Innovation School staff for their dedication and energy in building an environment of positivity and a spirit of flourishment for our students.
Dwayne Annointed, one of our PP1 (pre-primary 1) students, who took first place in the regional national music competition, will be performing the poem, Kata in Eldoret in early August. He was also first position in the county and subcounty competitions. Kata is a Kiswahili word that means “cutting” and the poem is about a youth who asks his mom to cut his nails as they are too long. The poem is a set (assigned) poem in the Kenyan primary schools. Kakamega County had 883 public primary schools and 253 private primary schools in 2014. Ten years later, the numbers must be significantly higher. There were over 550,000 primary students in the county at that time as well. In 2022, there were 32,469 primary schools in Kenya (public and private). So, this is quite an accomplishment, and we are very proud of him, all our students who have competed this year in the national music festival, and all the teachers who worked diligently to prepare them for success.
We recently acquired a variety of additional musical instruments (see below), expanding the opportunities for our students in terms of the arts.
In 2023, Mary Ratkovich, a Macalester College Alum, of 1966, reached out to Kijana President, James P. Cummings, sharing her work with a book collecting organization in the Denver area and offering us containers worth of sorted, cleaned, vetted books for a variety of ages. Their organization was offering us the books for free if we provided the shipping. We received a generous donation allowing us to ship one container of books, containing over 60,000 books to Kenya.
They were recently collected from near Denver and are on the way to New Jersey, where they will then head over to Kenya. We expect tthe books to be there by early November. Mary Ratkovich has served as a volunteer with SCOPE for many years and we are most grateful for this newly developed relationship. We intend to distribute most of the books to neighboring schools and possibly launch a local public library. Some of the books will also serve as a foundation for our new library/media center and amphitheater, which we are beginning construction on in the days ahead. This is also a story of relationship building and the power of a liberal arts education. A college liberal arts education and advancement opportunity does not end at graduation. It can be a toehold into a lifetime of learning, growing and connection building. Thank you again to Mary and her colleagues at SCOPE in Colorado and thank you to Macalester College for strengthening both of our callings to invest in a better world.
Our Care, Share, and Explore team has generated hundreds of thousands of tree seedlings in collaboration with over twenty schools in the region. Recently, the Kenyan government held a national tree planting day. Students planted hundreds of trees in celebration and in the continued effort to make Kenya greener, lusher, more forested and to combat climate change. Special thanks to the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters, of Wheaton, Ill, who have provided the financial support, allowing this to take place. This is the third year of our unique Care, Share, and Explore program, which emanated from this wonderful multi-year grant.
Hezron Amune, Grade 8 student with tree seedling
Arvin Kiptoo, Grade 8, Kim Baraka, Grade 8, Kelvin Njuguna, Grade 7 and Fredrrick Awuor with trees.
Kelvin Njuguna smiles with tree seedling.
Akili ni nywele kila mtu ana zake
“Wisdom is like hair; everyone has his/her own.”
At the Kijana Global Innovation School, we appreciate, value, and encourage exploration of individual gifts and talents. Every person is unique. No one who has ever lived and who ever will live had or will have the exact personality, talents, looks, and gifs that each of our students has (and anyone else, of course). We see our mission as providing an environment where each of these singular gifts to humanity will explore and discover and enrich themselves, along with others, so as to be lifelong learners on the journey of life. We are building a culture of caring for each other, sharing with each other and exploring our environment to build communities of growth and advancement. See the smiles as our students collaborate and compete in self and community flowering.
Trevoo Adrian Muga and Clffford Grayson with an eshimuka, a Luhya instrument.
Grade 3 students from L to R: Hadassah Eunice, Venessa Awinja, Mitchel Amwayi, Faith Rajula, Gloria Dwiti, Ariel Israel, Merg Amakobe, Jabali Dindi, Pebble Happenings Ochieng, Wema Tevie, Will Biko, Roosevelt Mandela, Fidel Ochenja, Hernan Ocholi, Marrinelx
Teachers from L to R: Wilbroad, Moses Wamala, Julius Ngota
Junior Secondary School students Grades 7 & 8
Front Row from L to R: Fredrick Anud (8), Hezron Amune (8), Kim Bardka (8), Amelia Mayark (7), Natasha Laurah (8), Regan Mahero (7), Kelvin Hjuguna (7), Wilfred Makomede (7)
Back row L to R: Jane Kajumbi (8), Susan Anyango (8), Shalom Joy (7), Clara Nasonga (7), Belinda Were (8), Shamim Muaro (8), Teacher Mathew, Martha Nalianya (8), Blossom A Prospers (7), Teacher Julius Ngota
Front row from L to R: Caren Ongachi (7), Martha Nalianya (5), Natasha Laurah (8), Amelia Matara (7), Penina Chelegat – Scout Dress (5)
Back row from L to R: Vission Omwaka (7), Glevin Natalie (7), Shalom Joy (7), Jose (Driver) – Joseph Makdktia, Teacher Mathew Were, Joy Obora (7), Teacher Julius Ngota, Ashley Jisictio (8), Teacher Samwel Etole
PP2 students from L to R: Alexa Rose, Lesly Chleohas, Arter Andika, Nice Precious, Angel Peris, Shaquille Amahic, Faith Hope Ngota, Darcy Jeroboni, Penzi Katelline, Briela Moraa, Rosebellah Chitesi, Tabitha Shalom
Teachers from L to R: Naomi Akonya, Julius Ngota, Samwel Etole
The following are photos of the students who scored either first or second in the subcounty competitions and are moving on to the county competitions this week.
From L to R: Teacher Modestar Upunga, Tabitha Shalom (PP2), Teacher Samwel Etole
Tabitha Shalom – PP2
From L to R: Teacher Julius Ngota, Natasha Laurah – Grade 8, Teacher Mathews Were
Naila Rashid – Grade 2
From L to R: Teacher Julius Ngota, Annointed Dwayne (PP1), Teacher Samwel Etole
Fostune Shiundu and Kalya Dinah with violins at school. We are adding new and unique instruments to the area to our school program.
During the first full week of June, Kijana students travelled to nearby Bukolwe Primary School for the subcounty stage of the national music festival competitions in Kenya. Our students performed excellently, winning first and second in numerous entries from lower primary through junior secondary level. Eleven Kijana individual and team entries advanced to the county level, which was held June 13th and Saturday June 15th in Kakamega. We are particularly proud of our Scottish Dance Team, who wore brand new costumes, designed by our school tailor, Philip Oula and ideated by Kijana School Director, Ebby Shiroya.
The Scottish Dance Team with winning certificate and teachers and school leadership: Mathews Were, Ebby Shiroya, Joseph Makokha and Julius Ngota.
Natasha Laurah plays the marimba at Bukolwe.
Fuata Moyo – “Follow your heart.”
Fuata Moyo is a Kiswahili proverb that means “follow your heart.” At the Kijana Global Innovation School we explore multiple ways for students to discover their heartfelt talents and purpose. The arts are a central way to do this and a core element of human cultural development. We aim to contribute to advancing the wonderful artistic and cultural blessings of Kenya and East Africa.
The Kijana Global Innovation School Scottish Dance Team performs at Bukolwe Primary School. As you can see, the area needs a new performance venue to match the wonderful costumes. Our future library, media center and amphitheater will be a beautiful and unique setting for students and community members to display their talents and creativity, contributing much to the community.
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.
