Glimpse of Ghana
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The Trinity Yard School continues to grow, with much of this years progress focused on the new school and Library building. Other projects and initiatives include: our book drive ended which ended successfully, as we shipped a container full of a few thousand books, school materials, a vehicle, many clothes and shoes. The first class of TYS graduated in April, and we have a new class of 19 students from three villages that will complete in 2013. Our soccer academy has four registered teams in the regional FA, three in the Coast youth league(U-17, U-15,U-12) and one second division mens team. Volunteers from the states as well as the UK have come to teach and offer service work, all of which continue to provide TYS with the benefits of a uniquely diverse learning environment.
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2011 Schedule:
January 10th school resumes
April 18th Graduation ceremony
June 13th exams begin
June 17th summer vacation begins
July 1st Putney Student Travel arrives
July 11th Reading assessments
September 12th school resumes
October 10th new class enters
December 16th winter break
2012 Schedule:
January 9th school resumes
June 15th summer vacation begins
July 2nd Putney Student Travel arrives
September 17th school resumes
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In September 2011 the school began a new academic year with third year students (Sr.)and an entering class(Jr.) of 26 students. The Sr. class focused on their kente weaving skills in the morning while continuing to attend academic classes in the afternoons. The Jr. class began an intensive English class in the morning with an intro to Kente in the afternoons and Batik and tie and Dye one day a week. Our academic classes included ESL english, History, geography, poetry, nutritional science, units of measurements and reading comprehension. Our permanent academic teacher Samuel helped to inform our volunteer teaching staff while Promise Badu was in charge of the Kente and vocational schedule.
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Our most impressive capital improvement project this past year was our School and Library building. It consists of two classroom-wings and a large central two- story-seven-sided Library that connects the two wings. The structure is built from cement blocks, local hardwood trusses and flooring, with stainless screws and carriage bolts holding all the joints. This center room will serve the school with a community Library on the ground floor and a school Library on the second floor. The Library will be open after school and weekend hours as a place to read or work on school-related projects. It is our aim to put solar panels to powers lights and few computers, along with our book installation in 2012. With the help of carpenters form Cape three Points and especially the Vermont crew, the TYS Library building is a shining monument standing proud on a hilltop over- looking the southwestern horizon of the gulf of Guinea.
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Over the past year TYS has built two composting toilets with sheet metal and a sloped cement floor with wooden doors to improve soil quality in the fruit orchards as well as serve all students and staff using the new school building.
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The school now has over three hundred fruit trees planted on the premises that include, mango, avocado, tangerine, orange, guava, coconut and cashew nut. Along with the fruit trees the school has planted numerous shade and decorative tropical shrubs and flowers that will eventually shape the skeleton of a future food-forest.
Our farming initiative has begun a new stage of development with out new solar pump that has blessed the yard with plentiful water from our hand-dug well, sending water all the way up to the School building. With organic seeds donated by Vt based company High mowing seeds, the students have planted roughly 50 raised beds with a variety of crops. In 2012 the farm will expand into lands to the west that will be sown and reaped by the hands of the students and staff of TYS.
Over the past academic year the TYS has benefited from the work of many volunteers, including funding and support from Emma Lipshultz, carpentry efforts by Josiash Jackson, Sky Gale, Dean Plager Andy Jackson, and work biulding our new composting toilets by Ant Mackeral and bicton college crew. The teaching was greatly enhanced by Devon Macleod(reading) Bonnie Melnick (reading), Olivia Daniels(geography), Jessica Normandeau(English and reading), Ben Malborg(History), Tori and Hope Kraft(Poetry and Math), and Max wall (Nutritional science and measurements). We are very fortunate to have two really great permanent Ghanaian Teachers, Samuel Agyemang(ESL English, Social studies, Reading Comprehension) and Promise Badu teaching Kente weaving.
The Trinity Yard School had the pleasure of hosting our first ever Bicton College group from the UK, led by Lecturer Ant Mackeral. The group came for two weeks to build composting toilets and offer daily classes for our TYS students in soil and environmental sciences. It is our hope to Build a partnership with the college involving yearly exchanges of resource and exposure. The group worked extremely hard was an inspiration to keep the energy level of the school at its highest. They have connected us with other organizations such as book-cycle and provided resources such as microscopes as well as books for the Library.
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Two individuals that have made an impact on the recent developments at the school are both recent high school graduates who have maintained a very committed relationship to our initiatives. Emma Lipshultz who is the youngest and newest member of our advisory board, attending Harvard has successfully helped to sponsor both our bicycle project last spring and our composting toilets this past Feb., along with contributing many clothes and uniforms to the community. Thomas Harrison from Jackson WY, a past volunteer with a school trip in 09, has organized and fundraised to purchase a small solar set-up for the library. Many youth have worked selflessly to supply students, community member, workers and teachers with resources and supplies. It is humbling to see the willingness of these youth, working to support our aim in helping the young people of Western Ghana through resource and education.
Most recently TYS hosted a group of students from Chapman University who came to film the operations of the school with the aim in creating a documentary style film on the school. The four students who spent a week at the Yard will work on the editing of the project for the next six months and release the film in the early months of 2012.
Putney Student travel will again visit the yard for the month of July to work on a water cistern that will hold drinking water for the school. The group will also teach at the local Primary school, help to organize the books for the TYS Library, and work on other independent project within the community.
The Trinity Yard School has given many youth from the and states and Cape Three Points a new outlook on life, helped support families and has allowed young people in the rural coastal area around Cape Three Points a chance to continue their education in more ways than one. The school has only been running for three years and in that short time many people have opened their eyes, hearts and minds to realize it is a universal goal, to heal the earth and its people.
