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Apple Tree Teachers Embark on Journey to Kenya |
| By
Kimyette Finley |
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Aug 2, 2002 |
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Three educators from the Apple Tree Nursery School Inc. on UT's main campus will experience a different kind of learning during a trip to Kenya.
Denise Hoeft, Sandy Meier and Janice Fellman are taking part in an Educator’s Safari trip, sponsored by the Toledo Zoo. The program is administered through America Share, a nonprofit foundation established by Micato Safaris and funded by Micato and individual donations. The teachers are scheduled to leave on Aug. 9 for a 10-day trip.
Fellman found out about the program during a visit to the zoo almost two years ago. “They were trying to get together teachers from northwest Ohio to go to Africa to become familiar with their educational system and to gather as much information as we could about the culture and the animals to share with children and families under our care,” explained Fellman, a preschool teacher and University College alumna. The Kenya-bound group of 10 people will have the chance to interact with fellow teachers as well as students.
“We’re going to observe the differences and similarities in the educational systems. Their school year pretty much goes all year, with a few breaks in between. Their universities and colleges are pretty much like ours,” said Meier, a preschool program specialist at Apple Tree.
In addition to the classroom proponent of the trip, they plan to visit Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti. Hoeft, a kindergarten teacher and UT graduate, said she is excited to learn about Kenya and plans to take 45 rolls of film to document the trip. “For me, I think it’s going to be more of a cultural awareness.” The teachers said they would try to take a picture of a Massai tribe member wearing a UT baseball cap.
The Toledo contingent plans to take school supplies such as crayons, loose-leaf paper and children’s books for elementary school students. “They manage to teach these children with nothing. We’re very fascinated by that,” Fellman said. School supply donations are being collected in the Apple Tree Nursery School’s lobby until Thursday, Aug. 8, and the teachers said they would especially like more children’s books.
Fellman, Meier and Hoeft said their students at Apple Tree are aware they are leaving for Kenya and have asked questions about the country. The teachers said they hope to bring back tools to create cultural play kits to help the children learn more about the culture in Africa, and they also are toying with the idea of establishing a pen-pal program with teachers in Kenya. Fellman plans on turning her observations from the trip into her master’s thesis work.
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