Are you looking for a meaningful way to say thank you to your child’s teachers as the school year ends? In lieu of the typical gifts, honor your favorite teachers with a donation to Teach With Africa. TWA will send a beautiful greeting card and South African beaded doll to acknowledge any donations over $25.

Just click on the Honor a Teacher button above to make your donation through paypal. Please include honoree’s name, mailing address, and gift note in the “special instructions” text field. We will email you to confirm the order.

Donate In Honor of a Special Teacher

Are you looking for a meaningful way to say thank you to your child’s teachers as the school year ends? In lieu of the typical gifts, honor your favorite teachers with a donation to Teach With Africa. TWA will send a beautiful greeting card and South African beaded doll to acknowledge any donations over $25.

Just click on the Honor a Teacher button above to make your donation through paypal. Please include honoree’s name, mailing address, and gift note in the “special instructions” text field. We will email you to confirm the order.

Dear Supporters,

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week! We hope you will take a moment to acknowledge all of the special teachers in your life. At Teach With Africa, we are blessed to work with hundreds of the most talented, passionate, and dedicated educators and teachers-in-training throughout the year. In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we bring you this special edition e-newsletter highlighting some of the fantastic teachers in our program.

Donate In Honor of a Special Teacher   

Are you looking for a meaningful way to say thank you to your child’s teachers as the school year ends? In lieu of the typical gifts, honor your favorite teachers with a donation to Teach With Africa. TWA will send a beautiful greeting card and South African beaded doll to acknowledge any donations over $25.

Just click on the Honor a Teacher button above to make your donation through paypal. Please include honoree’s name, mailing address, and gift note in the “special instructions” text field. We will email you to confirm the order.

Fellow Profile:
Josh Elder, KIPP Philadelphia Science Teacher

Three years ago, Josh Elder was attending a KIPP science conference expecting to take home some new teaching techniques and catching up with colleagues. However, a friend and fellow KIPP teacher, Mike Rettberg, pulled Josh aside to tell him about a life-changing journey in South Africa he had embarked on through Teach With Africa. Mike described his transformative experience to Josh, detailing how the fellowship with TWA and his experiences at the LEAP Science and Maths School had changed him as a person as well as his ability to connect with students. Josh immediately got on the phone with TWA’s Executive Director to find out how he could get involved in the program. A few months later, in June 2010, Josh was off to South Africa as one of TWA’s Teacher Training Fellows.

Josh had a vision of what his experience with LEAP would entail. He arrived in South Africa, experienced new things, and grew as a teacher. However, upon his return, he felt as if something had been missing. He knew he needed to return to South Africa.

Last year Josh returned again as a TWA Fellow and this time felt he truly “embraced the care and growth model” that distinguishes LEAP Schools. Josh realized that what had been missing was his full engagement in the social emotional learning that makes LEAP schools so exceptional. In his second year, Josh fully participated in the reciprocity that makes the TWA/ LEAP partnership so valuable. Although he did not spend as much time in the classroom and focused more on teacher training and his own growth, he contends that his second journey was infinitely more meaningful and impactful. With so much more to accomplish and learn, Josh knew he would return to LEAP again in 2012.

This year, Josh is returning for a third year as a TWA Fellow for the June-August Teacher Training Program and then will be staying on as a full time LEAP science faculty member for at least two years. Working with TWA has “changed my entire life and how I interact with people,” says Josh. Josh looks forward to the time he will be able to spend at LEAP and is excited for the opportunity to learn and grow.

According to Josh, Teach With Africa provides its fellows with an experience that is somewhat intangible, but one that ultimately impacts the colleagues and students of TWA Fellows in their U.S. home schools, as well as the LEAP colleagues and students. Josh sees enormous potential for growth in the LEAP/ TWA partnership, as he has seen first-hand the remarkable development of both organizations and knows the future will only bring more progress and success.

Accomplishment Corner:
One Day on Earth and Howard Global Education Conference

Teach With Africa is incredibly fortunate to have Karen Page returning for her fourth summer as TWA Faculty-in-Residence, sharing her multimedia expertise with students and faculty at LEAP. Karen’s work with LEAP students is featured on the One Day on Earth website. On Earth Day this year, Karen was invited to attend a screening of the 10.10.10 film project at the UN General Assembly. Stay tuned for the release of the 11.11.11 film that will include LEAP’s work.

Last weekend, TWA 2011 and 2012 Fellow, Kim Worthy, along with 2 learners and 1 teacher from LEAP, played an integral role in Howard University Middle School’s Global Education Conference in Washington, DC. The conference explored “innovative practices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.” The keynote speaker was South African Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor. In March, Kim was chosen as one of ten U.S. educators to participate in the 2nd Annual International Education Summit in New York, hosted by the U.S. Department of Education. We are proud of Kim’s many accomplishments and the opportunities for education exchange that she is pioneering with LEAP and Howard Middle School.

Additional Teachers from High Tech High
Joining our 2012 Team

We’d like to welcome two new additions to our summer Teacher Training Fellows and Faculty-in-Residence Program. Janna Steffan, a multi-subject teacher at High Tech Elementary School will be sharing her knowledge of project-based learning curriculum and ESL as a TWA Fellow at LEAP 4 in Diepsloot, Johannesburg. Rachel Nichols, a master teacher of 12th Grade English at High Tech High Media Arts, will be sharing her 13+ years of teaching experience during a Faculty-in-Residence stint at LEAP 3 in Johannesburg. Read more about Janna and Rachel on their bios page or download the updated 2012 Team Bios here.

Experience Africa:
Two week South Africa trip tailored for TWA Supporters

Join Teach With Africa on a visit to South Africa this summer! This small-group trip will offer the unique opportunity to experience the power of Teach With Africa’s capacity-building partnerships firsthand while exploring the Rainbow Nation and supporting the continued growth of Teach With Africa’s groundbreaking fellowship program. From $4,800 per person for 13 nights/14 days itinerary in July- August (dates TBC).

In addition to dynamic Cape Town, the lovely Cape Winelands, and a safari at Singita Sabi Sand, one of South Africa’s top private game reserves, the itinerary will include community engagement opportunities with Teach With Africa’s South African partners:

· A visit to the LEAP School and LEAP’s community partner sites

· A volunteer opportunity with LEAP or one of its community partners

· Visits to community projects in the Cape Winelands including a pioneering
training program for local young people

· A visit to the a TWA rural project preschool site

For more info: Experience Africa

Experience Africa with Teach With Africa this Summer!

This small-group (maximum 10 person) trip will offer the unique opportunity to experience the power of Teach With Africa’s capacity-building partnerships firsthand while exploring the Rainbow Nation and supporting the continued growth of Teach With Africa’s groundbreaking fellowship program.

In addition to dynamic Cape Town, the lovely Cape Winelands, and a safari at Singita Sabi Sand, one of South Africa’s top private game reserves, the itinerary will include community engagement opportunities with Teach With Africa’s South African partners:

• A welcome reception and farewell braai with John Gilmour, LEAP faculty, students, and community partners, and Teach With Africa Fellows
• A visit to the LEAP School and LEAP’s community partner sites
• A volunteer placement with LEAP or one of its community partners
  -   Projects will be tailored to your interests and skills
• Visits to community projects in the Cape Winelands including a pioneering training program for local young people
• Dinner with Teach With Africa’s rural Fellows and community partners and a visit to the rural project site

The trip will be led by Julian Asher, one of Teach With Africa’s founding board members. Since the program’s inception in the summer of 2007, Julian has worked closely with founders Marjorie and Larry Schlenoff. He played a key role in establishing Teach With Africa’s partnership with LEAP and spearheaded the development of the rural partnerships with Singita and Kwandwe. Julian’s first trip to Africa as a schoolboy was rudely terminated when his mom refused to sign the permission form on the grounds that he was going to catch a heinous disease and die. Despite this less than promising beginning, the call of Africa could not be denied.  He is now a regular visitor to the continent – recent visits have included: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Tanzania.  Julian is the founder of boutique travel consultancy Timeless Africa and heads up the office in London, England. He is an award-winning photographer who will go to great lengths in the name of the perfect shot, including being duct-taped into a doorless helicopter over the Okavango Delta in Botswana. The risks have paid off (or so he hopes), and his work has been displayed at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.  In 2012 Julian received the Teach With Africa Spirit Award for his contributions to Teach With Africa’s growth and development.

From $4,800 per person, the trip in South Africa includes 13 nights/14 days.  For additional trip details, please contact Julian Asher at julian@timelessafrica.com and review the Summary Itinerary, Detailed Itinerary, and Practicalities documents.

Timeless Africa, Teach With Africa’s travel partner, is proud to support this unique travel experience.  A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Teach With Africa. www.timelessafrica.com

Announcing TWA’s 2012 Teacher Training Fellows

Teach With Africa is proud to announce our fifth cohort of teachers to South Africa for our Summer 2012 Teacher Training Fellowship Program. This year we are thrilled to have 18 teachers placed in South African Schools — 12 full-time Fellows and 4 Faculty-in-Residence spread throughout the six LEAP School campuses in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Limpopo, and Pretoria from June through August. And, after last year’s successful pilot Early Childhood Education Program, we will also be sending 2 Teacher Trainer Fellows to the Sabi Sand area for a second year of working with rural preschools in collaboration with the Singita Game Reserve and Pacific Oaks College.

Our team of highly experienced teachers will be focused on teacher training and professional development in a variety of concentration areas such as: integrating technology in the classroom, hands-on project-based learning, and teaching to varied learning styles. TWA Fellows will also lead academic and enrichment workshops during the LEAP School holiday sessions. The Fellows will collaborate closely with LEAP faculty and student teachers to promote educational equity in South Africa. Dispersing our Fellows to the expanding LEAP network will also allow us to expand our support and resources for the schools’ infrastructure, as well as the amount of students and teachers with whom we can connect.

TWA’s reach across the nation continues to inspire us – our team hails from the SF Bay Area, San Diego, Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington DC! Six of our team members are returning alumni fellows from prior years, including Josh Elder and Karen Page who will be joining us for a third year of volunteering. Our journey will begin with our 2012 Team Orientation, held in San Francisco from April 27-29. We are excited to bring the team together and prepare for this wonderful program.

Check out the bios of this impressive group of TWA Fellows.

You can support the 2012 Teach With Africa fellows by donating here:

Apply for a 2012 Teacher Training Fellowship in South Africa

• Student-centered Teaching
• Integrating Technology in the Classroom
• Teacher Training
• ESL/ ELL
• Professional Development
• Reading Fluency
• Curriculum Development
• Project-based Learning
• Learning Style Differences
• Multiple Intelligences

The Program Dates are tentatively June 18 to August 12, 2012

Step One application materials are due by December 31, 2011. Applicants will be notified on a rolling basis until January 15, 2012 if they are invited to submit for Step Two of the application process.

Download the 2012 TWA 2012 Teacher Training Fellowship application and program information here.