Ivy Akinyi: Video spotlight
Introducing Ivy, a student at the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa. Her innate drive for self-growth and desire to give back to the community makes her a true home-grown leader.
Primary schools record improved standards in ongoing music fete
The Daily Nation features the excellent results from Aga Khan Academy students at the ongoing Kenya National Music Festival 2019 in Nakuru.
Participants of the AKA Outreach Programmes
Said Mwabeha: Sparking a Light in Students by Transforming School Leadership
Said Mwabeha became a teacher in 1990. He was drawn to the profession because it provided an opportunity to positively impact a range of people. “Almost everyone on earth,” he explains, “be it a president, be it a doctor, be it an engineer—all of them pass through a teacher. So, to me, a teacher is a very important person.”
Mwabeha aspires to spark a light in others through his teaching and says the Professional Development Centre at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa has enhanced his ability to do so. As the Head of Vuga Primary School in the coastal area of Kenya, Mwabeha attended a course focused on Leadership Management at the Academy.
“It really transformed me,” Mwabeha says of the course, which dealt with how Heads of School could make better use of their resources to enhance academic performance. While he previously undertook initiatives to improve the school as a “one-man shop”, he now takes an integrated approach to solving problems that involves a range of teachers, parents and students.
The Academy’s programme also spurred the creation of an association of teachers in Kwale County, where Vuga Primary is located, at the end of 2012. As Chair of Kwale Educational Leaders' Association, Mwabeha is leading teachers from 23 schools in formulating a strategic roster of activities to strengthen their academic performance. Their strategy is two-pronged. On the one hand, they plan to undertake workshops and other initiatives to improve pedagogy. On the other, they are organising awareness meetings and conferences for parents and teachers to discuss the importance of education. They hope to overcome the challenges and problems created by families that do not prioritise education.
Meanwhile, inside the classroom, Mwabeha is working hard to spark intellectual curiosity in his pupils. After receiving training in pedagogy at the Academy, he has promoted the use of more participatory teaching methods, both in his own classroom—where he teaches Social Studies and Religion courses to students in grades 4, 6 and 8—and in those of his colleagues. “It gives [the students] an opportunity to explore more and to discover more by themselves,” he explains. He previously spent the majority of classroom time lecturing, as is common in Kenya, but finds that facilitating class discussions is more fruitful.
By Alia Dharssi
Mombasa County Governor and NBA agent visit AKA Mombasa
Spotlight: Abdirahman Ibrahim
This is Abdirahman, a student at the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa. During his time at the Academy, he explored his wide-ranging abilities and developed an initiative that helped change the lives of young girls in Mombasa.
Students from across the Academies network participate in inaugural Climate and Environment Conference
Stonehill International School Hosts Mosaic 2022, a Humanities Fair and Competition
Mosaic is a Humanities Fair that brings talented young people interested in business, economics, history, geography and psychology together to innovate, create, compete and learn! This year’s event was sponsored by Hult International Business School and took place at Stonehill International School in Bangalore. We’re thrilled that four of our students, Sujith Venkata Bandaru, Ayaan Lalani, Zamaan Merchant and Sannihitha Chilupuri bagged the first prize.
Clare McLaughlin: Encouraging growth at the Academy
Before we enter the 2019 – 2020 academic term, we would like to spotlight a few staff from AKA Mombasa who are going on to pursue new adventures in the upcoming academic year. Here, we take a look at Academy fellow Clare McLaughlin and her two years at the Academy.
Clare McLaughlin is from Warren, Vermont and was an Academy fellow at the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa. Clare was focused in the Service Learning programme
and involved in other programmes around the Academy.
During her time at the Academy, Clare said she is grateful for the various people she was able to work with.
“My time at AKA Mombasa has been an incredible opportunity to learn and grow,” Clare said. “Foremost I’ll miss the students who were immeasurably thoughtful, hilarious and motivating. Students were the center of everything I did and valued in my time at the Academy so I’ll miss them the most. I’ll also miss the friendships I’ve made with staff across the Academy - from the Administration block to the dorms - the Academy staff always kept me laughing and learning.”
Clare said she was able to recognise the value of pluralism at the Academy, which she believes will help her in her future.
“I feel fortunate that on each team I worked with, I heard different perspectives and had to challenge myself to see problems and solutions from every angle,” Clare said. “I value this immensely and will carry with me this standard of listening and collaboration.”
Throughout her fellowship, Clare said she enjoyed the opportunities she was given to work on various projects and programmes, while also improving the Service Learning programme for the years to come.
“The best part of the fellowship is its flexibility to try new things, work with an array of groups and interests in the Academy, and propose creative solutions to challenges,” Clare said. “I especially enjoyed serving as a mentor, working on the girls’ football programme, working on the Exchange Programme with the Academy in Hyderabad, and working to make Service Learning more community-centered, effective and sustainable.”
For her next adventure, Clare said she plans to go back to school for her Master’s degree.
“I am attending Stanford University to pursue a Master’s degree looking at education for sustainable development,” Clare said.
George Kamau Gachoya, an Environmental Systems and Societies teacher at the Academy who Clare worked with as a teacher’s assistant, said he admired Clare’s work ethic and the various new ideas she introduced to his class.
“Clare is a diligent and an outspoken person with whom I have had an opportunity to work with in the last two years as my protégé in the ESS class,” George said. “She is meticulous in planning; the resources she prepared for the lessons she helped deliver were always enriching and promoted deeper understanding of concepts. She introduced Freakonomics radio to the class and organised for class discussions initiated by students on hot environment topics of the week that they could pick from the media. She is friendly, but also very firm when dealing with students. Her keen eye could quickly pick students who were not using their lesson time productively.”
AKA Mombasa organises first cross-campus Peace Summit
AKA Mombasa organises first cross-campus Peace Summit
