Rotary Teacher Training - How empowered teachers can have a major impact on poverty by delivering a higher level of education to the student population.
Her name was Kathia, and she lived on her parent’s farm in Costa Rica. Kathia had two brothers and two sisters, so her dad had to work from dawn to dusk each day, trying to grow some coffee beans and provide food for the family.
The day after her 12th birthday, Kathia’s father told her that she must quit school and come and help him on the farm. Kathia was a bright student and begged her father to let her stay at school. “Just til I’m 16, daddy” she said. Although he was in desperate need of another pair of hands to work the farm, Kathia’s father loved all his children. Not least, his first daughter, Kathia. He reluctantly agreed but told her “Only until you reach 16”. Kathia never forgot how much her father was giving to let her continue at school and she graduated top of her class. “Now you can come and work with me” her father said. “But daddy I have learnt so much and am ready to go to University” said Kathia. “Please let’s not waste this chance. I promise that I will pay you back with all my love and kisses”. Once again, Kathia’s dad relented. “Seems that it is God’s will” he said.
Kathia worked very hard and managed to graduate with a BS in Agriculture - after just 3 years. Kathia gave her dad lots of hugs and kisses and finally she joined him on the farm.
Over the next 4 years Kathia and her dad increased the yield on the farm by 10-fold! Kathia showed her dad how to set up a small corporation and they became partners in the business. Over the next 15 years the business bought the land from neighboring farms, and they then created a co-operative where all the farmers could share in the profits.
Today, Kathia and her dad are one of the largest bean suppliers to Starbucks coffee and dad is a rich man. What about the other siblings? Well dad thought it only fair that they all continue at school. Each of them graduated with a university degree and three of them are now working and living in the USA.
I never met Kathia, but her story was told to me by a Peace Corps Volunteer – Jasmin. I spent some time with Jasmin over dinner one evening and asked her what she felt Rotary can do to help to combat the enormous poverty that exists in the world. Jasmin paused and thought for a momement “Sending money helps” she said “but the best possible way is to educate the children. Go out and tell Kathia’s story”.
I have always believed in the power of education and literacy, and I knew immediately that Jasmin was right. The best way to tackle poverty is to educate the children in impoverished countries and regions of the world.
Ever since my talk with Jasmin, I have tried to figure out what Rotary can do to have a real impact on the education of children in impoverished countries and regions of the world.
Then last year I was judging a team of high schoolers who were taking part in the World Affairs Challenge (WAC). The team: from Rocky Mountain High, explained that some teachers in Angola had as little as three days of teacher training. The students project outlined how they would attempt to improve the quality of teacher training and thereby improve the quality of education for thousands of children in Angola.
The project hit me between the eyes. I thought; what if Kathia had lived in Angola and her teachers had not been well trained? She would never have been able to reach her potential and the farm would never have prospered. I knew immediately that Rotary could help educate children by first helping to ‘Train the Teachers’.
Over the past 12 months, a small team and I have continued to pursue and work on this idea. Then in February 2022, the Rotary Club of Highlands Ranch, ‘Rotary Teacher Training’ (RTT) project was launched.
In partnership with Teach United (TU) and World Denver, our mission is to provide a quality level of teacher training in many parts of Mexico, Central, and South America.
Our Mission –
We aim to combat poverty by proving a higher level of education to the student population in impoverished regions of the world.
We envision a world where teachers are empowered, effective, and have the strategies to connect, inspire, and improve student outcomes.
To reach our goal, we aim to partner with Teach United www.teachunited.org to help schools, districts, and government systems of education shift toward a better model for teaching and learning.
We will deliver a Rotary/Teach United program of Teacher Education and Coaching in the chosen regions of the world.
RTT Goals and Objectives
Train 20 teachers over a period of 5 years.
Improve the education of up to 3 million children who may be taught by these empowered teachers.
Our financial goal – by year 4 we intend to develop our global fundraising programs to raise a minimum $100,000/year towards the cost of the teacher coaching programs.
With the help of TU, and Rotary Clubs like ours, this program should eventually impact millions of children in impoverished regions of Mexico, Central, and South America.