Five Academy Teachers Visit Lawrenceville School in the USA

Five teachers from the Academy spent their April holiday at Lawrenceville School in Princeton, NJ, USA. Aziz Batada, Jacob Okelo, Judith Misigo, Pamela Mokua, and Benard Dudi were hosted by Lawrenceville teachers for a week of real life experience in one of America’s most prestigious boarding schools. The teachers visited classes, ate meals with students, watched sporting events, attended extra-curricular events and lived in the Housemaster’s residence in order to experience life at a busy and well run boarding school. Teachers were also able to meet with faculty in their own disciplines to discuss the Lawrenceville curriculum and gain insight into their own teaching. The Academy teachers were impressed and inspired by their American counterparts and commented on the full engagement of the faculty and the students in the school community at Lawrenceville.

The five teachers have been selected as Dorm Parents for the upcoming residential program. The trip to Lawrenceville was part of the on-going training process of The Aga Khan Academy’s faculty in preparation for the boarding component of the school. The first dormitories are under construction in Mombasa and the Head of the Academy, Peter J McMurray, has stated that , upon completion, this will be "the finest boarding facility in Africa." Visiting a school like Lawrenceville allows our teachers to experience a boarding school that has been running well for over two hundred years.

In an interview for the student newspaper, The Lawrence, Mr. Dudi said, "We are here to learn about how the boarding school system works, how teachers relate to their students, to see what kids do after classes, and how they spend their free time. We are eager to learn all about Lawrenceville’s best features and incorporate them into a Kenyan context."