The Trinity Yard School was established to serve the youth in Cape Three Points, Ghana, by providing a fee-free secondary education with a primary focus on skills training in arts-oriented trades. The school aims to create a diversified learning environment involving students in many extra-curricular activities such as a drum and dance group, soccer team, and a student-run organic vegetable and fruit farm.

click to enlarge Our vision in creating the school is to allow the motivated youth of Cape Three Points and neighboring villages to improve their literacy and continue their academic education while at the same time acquiring valuable skills in trades that will enable them to earn a living. The three main areas of focus within the school (academic subjects, skills training, extra-curricular) represent the strength and balance of three parts fulfilling one mission: To support the youth through access to knowledge and resources. Within the school's yard it is our goal to provide a safe environment where the students can freely express themselves and find support from peers, teachers, and staff. The name Trinity Yard serves as a fitting title for our efforts, encompassing both the geographic location of Cape Three Points and the three points of focus within the school's curriculum.

Our school is devoted to serving students from the Cape Three Points area that have completed their elementary and middle school education and face very limited options for their future. Due to lack of preparation in understaffed and overcrowded classrooms, most students fail their national junior high school exam, which prevents them from continuing their schooling.

click to enlargeIn addition, most families live in severe financial poverty and have very little money to invest in their children's education. This leaves students who are interested in learning trades unable to afford apprenticeship fees, housing or food outside of the village. As an example, the only student who passed his national exam this past year is unable to attend secondary school because his family cannot afford to pay for school fees. Even in the rare case when a student is able to complete high school, he or she is faced with a limited and very competitive job market. Consequently, a large percentage of high school graduates are unemployed. After many discussions with respected community members, including the elders and Chief, and, most importantly, the students themselves, it was decided that the best way to improve the situation is to establish a secondary-trades school.

click to enlarge The Trinity Yard School aims to enrich the lives of the youth not only in Cape Three Points, but also the lives of other Ghanaians and volunteers from abroad. The school employs Ghanaian teachers from other parts of the country, offering jobs with competitive salaries to qualified individuals. Volunteers, including the Putney Student Travel group, as well as teachers taking part in volunteer internships, benefit from the rich cross-cultural exchange the School has created. Along with jobs for local grounds staff, the school will employ community members as guest teachers to share local knowledge of folklore, agriculture, and herbal medicine.

Our short-term goals include the sustained operations of a classroom and workshop in which the students are provided with teachers, resources, trades equipment and support staff. Our current operations include six paid staff members---an academic teacher and a trade's teacher, a groundskeeper, a drum and dance teacher, and a soccer coach. Our main goal is to keep the school running and moving towards self-reliance. In order to sustain our annual budget, it is our goal to involve fee-paying volunteers and teacher-interns. This will enable the school to meet its annual budget while volunteers gain invaluable teaching experience during their time in the Yard. In partnership with Putney Student Travel and in collaboration with ISLA (International Service Learning Alliance), student sponsors, and our own community outreach volunteer trips, we aim to become completely self-reliant through volunteer support. After meeting the needs of our general operations, it is our goal to increase the literacy level within the village. The first step in encouraging a literate community is to provide books to every student and child. Currently, there is no library in the village and not a single book in either of the schools for students to take home to read. We have begun to fulfill this goal by running book drives in Vermont and Massachusetts as well as encouraging students who have visited or plan on volunteering at the school to collect books from their communities to donate.

click to enlargeAnother short-term goal is to produce a portion of the food needed to feed our students and staff during the school year. This would greatly reduce the pressures students face while attending the school, especially those who are from neighboring villages who are unsupported and have no time to fish or do their own farming. Our current operations take place in buildings located on land adjoining the property owned by the School. Architectural plans for the school have been submitted for the construction of the main building on the School's three-acre parcel, including a library, classrooms, kitchen and dining facilities, workshops and residential buildings for teachers and volunteers. Future plans for the School also include solar electricity, internet access, running water, a school vehicle, a fishing boat and nets, a fruit orchard, and student-run farm. It is our hope that the School, as a center for the arts, will attract both Ghanaians and foreigners visiting the region. Visitors would have the opportunity to watch students work at their craft, to sign up for a course, or buy student-made products in a campus gallery.

click to enlargeIt is our long-term goal to hire Trinity Yard graduates who have become masters of their trade to serve their community by teaching at the school. Our goal is to encourage graduates to set up their own businesses within the village, as well as to allow for new trades to be introduced through the School. The Trinity Yard students will also be able to give back to their community by hosting daily tutoring sessions in the library, offering younger village children one-on-one tutoring organized by both older students and volunteers. The Trinity Yard School has already sparked a great excitement within the village as a safe haven for learning and self-expression, and will continue to grow as we meet our goals.

"Education develops the intellect; and the intellect distinguishes man from other creatures. It is education that enables man to harness nature and utilize her resources for the well-being and improvement of his life. The key for the betterment and completeness of modern living is education. But, ' Man cannot live by bread alone '. Man, after all, is also composed of intellect and soul. Therefore, education in general, and higher education in particular, must aim to provide, beyond the physical, food for the intellect and soul. That education which ignores man's intrinsic nature, and neglects his intellect and reasoning power can not be considered true education."
-Hailie Selassie I

The Trinity Yard Ltd. under which the school operates as a non-member, non-profit corporation organized in accordance with laws of Vermont, approved by the IRS as (501)(c)(3) corporation effective to the date of our incorporation July 9th 2007, with no political or religious affiliations. Non-discrimination policy: Trinity Yard School admits students of any race to all rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students, and the school does not discriminate on the basis of race in the administration of its education policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs or other school administered programs. The board of directors consists of Rory Jackson (president) Andrew Jackson (vice president/ secretary and Ruth Polishuk (treasurer). We are fortunate to have the following individuals serving on our advisory board: Bob Evans of Boston, MA; John DaCosta of Boston, MA; Lonny Edwards of Lincoln, VT; Kelsey Burns of Putney, VT.