Bwanji!

What a week. I can’t tell you how inspiring it is to be back among our staff, our teachers, and most importantly, our students, this week! It has been a bit of a whirlwind, and I wanted to share some of the big and small moments stemming coming from our work over the last two years.

We started off the week with an impressive management training – the first time our management team has been entirely together! We analyzed our 2021 results, capture our successes, and brainstormed together on how we can do better in 2022. I was particularly impressed with how our management team stayed on-task and kept the focus on how we can improve the lives of our scholars and communities in our work.

Then, we moved on to field work, visiting schools in Katete West and Expansion, especially focusing on our newest threads of work! We watched four different phonics classes in grades 1 and 2, who are working on sounding out words using mouth charts. In my years of Impact Network, I found this program to be among the most powerful. Watching students learn to read in real time brings me such joy and grounds our work in such a meaningful way. I’m so proud of our teachers and managers for embracing this new program with perseverance and openness!

I would be remiss not to celebrate our Early Childhood Education classes, focused on play-based programs and engaging three to six-year-olds. We watched them playing in our new ECE playparks, participating in structured play, learning about patterns and building with blocks, and learning letter sounds. As we moved up in grades, we also were able to see the rollout of Catch Up or Teaching at the Right Level – students are grouped by ability rather than grade, and engaged through literacy and numeracy games. We loved seeing students outdoors playing math games and using sticks and acorns to count and learn!

And last, we wrapped up the week with a teacher training that combined data reflections, problem-solving, lesson-planning and resources, and a training on equity in the workplace. As I look back on the week, I cannot believe it has been two years since I was last here! I’m so impressed with our team, their progress and growth, and their incredible can-do spirit. In partnership with them, I truly believe that Impact Network is ready for a big (hopefully, uninterrupted) school year.

-Reshma