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Our school in Buchanan, Help Liberia Foundation Community School, has reopened for the 2012/2013 school year, which runs from September 2012 to June 2013. We are, however, facing a serious challenge to our future.

The reopening day – the first day of the school year – which took place last Monday, September 10, followed a two-day teachers’ workshop and other pre-opening activities and preparations, which ended on September 8.

HLF kids on day one of the school year

The opening day brought together old and new students, as well as old and new staff members. So far, there are about 115 (one hundred fifteen) students, comprising 9 (nine) different classes: K-3, K-4, K-5, Grade-1, Grade-2, Grade-3, Grade-4, Grade-5 and Grade-6. Although the school year has begun, registration is still on going.

Help Liberia Foundation Community School, which comprises both kindergarten and primary divisions, has about 15 (fifteen) administrative, instructional and support staff.

Considering the happiness and readiness of the kids to be in school, coupled with the preparedness and seriousness of the staff to help the kids, we are convinced that we will have a more successful academic year than we had last year.

K-3 kids in their classroom on thr first day of school

Unfortunately, this zeal and dream may be short-lived if a serious problem currently hanging over the school is not removed before the 15th of October (next month).

As many of you may know, the building in which we are operating the school is not a school building; it is a residential building, which we have been leasing for the last seven years. The last time we paid the landlords was in 2008 when we paid for three years, which expired about two months ago.

The shock came about two weeks ago, during the teachers’ workshop week, when the landlords informed us that they were increasing their lease amount to US$50 per month, that we should pay for three years on or before the 15th of October, and that failure on our part will cause them to evict us from the building on October 16. We have appealed to them to reconsider their decision to no avail. We have also taken some concerned parents of the school and residents of the community to beg them, but they have refused to listen.

A cross-section of the kids and the staff on the first day of school

We are, therefore, sending out this SOS call to all individuals and institutions of good will to please come to our aid. We are in dire need of US$1,800 (US$50 per month times 36 months) to pay the owners for the three years they are requesting. We don’t want to see the kids wasting in the street or the community. We don’t want this dramatic interruption in their learning process. It will be traumatic for all of us. We need your help – any assistance you are able and willing to render for this purpose.

In case you desire to assist us with any amount that will help pay for the three years, please contact us, or get in touch with Catherine Gill-Jamieson (of Scotland and Liberia) or Mary Smith (of England). You may send money directly to the school using the school’s bank account (information here), or via Western Union or MoneyGram.

We thank you in advance for your support.

Grade 2 kids in class on the first day of school

Kids playing outside on the first day of school

Our school, Help Liberia Foundation Community School, located in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, has ended a two-day teachers’ refresher workshop on the school campus.

The workshop, which was held on Monday and Tuesday – September 3rd and 4th, respectively – was aimed at feeding the teachers with some professional food that will enable them to professionally impact knowledge unto the children, as the school begins another academic year.

Paul, Catherine and teachers at the workshop

The exercise brought together the school’s teachers and administrators, both old and new, as well as some of the old and experienced hands in the teaching profession. Catherine Gill-Jamieson, a volunteer teacher and International Contact Person of the school, was also in attendance.

Topics treated at the workshop included the following: Lesson Planning, Teaching Methodology, Testing & Evaluation, Classroom Management and the Importance of Good/Correct English in the Classroom.

Mr. Garneo lecturing during the program

Serving as facilitators/lecturers were Mr. Solomon Gbargee, proprietor of the Kids & Us Daycare, who lectured on Classroom Management; Mr. Augustus N. Karyor, the County Education Officer (DEO) of Grand Bassa County, who presented lectures on Lesson Planning and Teaching Methodology; Mr. Joseph Garneo, Jr., former Principal of Bethel World Outreach Elementary School and Administrative Assistant at the W. P. L. Brumskine High School, who spoke on Testing & Evaluation; Mr. Paul Yeenie Harry, Director of HLF School, who, along with Catherine Gill-Jamieson, spoke on the Importance of Good/Correct English in the Classroom.

At the end of the exercise, Mr. Harry thanked the facilitators for their lectures, the teachers for their participation and the cooks for preparing delicious dishes for all. The teachers, on the other hand, thanked the administration of the school for organizing the workshop and for affording them the opportunity to participate, promising to utilize in the classroom what they acquired during the workshop.

The school reopens for the new school year tomorrow, 10th September.

Our school in Buchanan, Help Liberia Foundation Community School, a school established to provide education to underprivileged kids, has held its seventh graduation program in the city.

The ceremony, which coincided with the 2011/2012 closing program and which was held on Sunday, 17 June 2012, at the Jubilee Christian Fellowship Center in Buchanan, brought together students, staff, parents, guardians and residents. The program was well attended.

Graduates seated in the hall

A total of twenty-three students graduated. Of the number, seventeen kids graduated from the kindergarten section, while six students graduated from the sixth grade. Those graduating from the sixth grade will be leaving the school, as our school is a primary school.

The Program’s activities included recitations, songs, speeches, and so forth. The top student or valedictorian of the sixth graders was Seke R. Morris, while the top student of the kindergarten section was Daniel T. Kennedy.

The top student, Seke Morris, delivering his valedictorian speech

Invited to speak as the guest speaker at the program was the President Pro tempore of the Liberian Senate, Senator Gbezohngar Milton Findley of Grand Bassa County. However, because of busy schedule, he sent a proxy, Mr. Reuben Barnie, who delivered the speech on his behalf.

Senator Findley, through Mr. Barnie, encouraged the students to take their education very seriously, as education is the key that opens doors and makes possible a better future.

Mr. Reuben Barnie (proxy Guest Speaker) delivering the keynote address on behalf of Senator Gbezohngar Findley

Senator Findley, through the proxy, promised to give scholarship to two of our best students – one boy and one girl. First, to Seke R. Morris, who graduated from the school and to Patricia Chea who was promoted to the fifth grade and will still be in the school.

Interestingly, too, because the school informed Senator Findley about its plan to begin the construction of a thirteen-classroom school building next year, the Senator pledged fifty (50) bags of cement to start the foundation.

Graduates, P-T.A. Chairman and some school staff after the progam

The new school year will start in September; however, registration of both old and new students will begin this month.

Our major priority at the moment is the construction of our school building, which we intend to start next year, as the building we are operating in is not conducive for our purpose. It is an unfinished residential building. We will be appreciative of any form of assistance any individual or institution renders us for the construction.

Pictures from the day (click to see larger images)

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has donated some backpacks to kids in our school.

The backpacks, fourteen in all and marked with the inscription “UNICEF,” were recently donated by UNICEF through the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Liberia for onward distribution to a select group of kids.

Although the backpacks were not enough to cover all of the students, more than one hundred fifty (150) in number, the donation was appreciated in that Help Liberia Foundation Community School was one of few schools benefiting from the exercise. The fourteen items have since been given to fourteen students.

The administration of the school received the book bags and thanked UNICEF through the Ministry of Education for including the school in its backpack-donation exercise.

Our school will appreciate any form of donation made to it or to its kids. The donation could be backpacks, pens and pencils, copybooks, kindergarten materials, wall clocks, toys, used shoes and clothes and other items useful to the schools and its kids.

Our school has introduced the use of identification (ID) cards by the children attending it. The kids started using the ID cards recently.

Since its establishment six years ago, it is the first time that the kids have begun using identification cards, and it will, henceforth, be part of the their regular dress code.

The kids were not only happy to take their pictures for the ID cards, they were also excited to receive the finished product from the school. They happily and proudly displayed them on their uniforms daily.

We extend special thanks to all those who are assisting us to do what we are doing for the kids in our school.