My journey and decision to enroll my son Yasin at Nova Pioneer was not an easy one, for lack of better words, I would say it all started in earnest. Assessing some of the traditional factors a lot of families I know consider as metrics in selecting High Schools it was clear that this choice was very unconventional.
Yasin emerged among the top candidates in the 2019 K.C.P.E exams in Bungoma County. He scored 426 marks and was offered a much coveted spot at The Alliance High School. My friends, colleagues and family members thought I had lost my mind to forego that chance for Nova Pioneer. Most of them had never heard about the school and kept wondering how I would afford it.
In light of the societal pressure that came with my son joining Nova Pioneer, I have spent the first half of this year reflecting on his experience so far and what he has been able to achieve, and my heart is filled with immutable joy and pride. As much as the Ministry of Education has declared this academic year null, the virtual learning experience he has gained in the past five months will never be taken away from him. He is better prepared for the information age.
Yasin’s Nascent Interests and How We Got Here
Since childhood, Yasin has always been very inquisitive and curious about machines. I remember how he would make makeshift airplanes from carton boxes. Yasin’s favourite tv channel has always been the discovery family ‘Ultimate car build off’ Henceforth, I discovered that Yasin had a passion for engineering. He had the ability to focus and concentrate on his projects for long.
As a child, he turned our study room into his mini workshop where he would stay all day and late into the night working on his inventions whenever he was not attending school. Having paid close attention to his consistency and resolve, I was always left with many questions: what do I want for my son? Why do I want it? How do I make it happen? It was clear to me that a more unique educational approach would give him better exposure and develop his passion.
When Yasin was 11 years old his passion for engineering had developed so much that he insisted on going for the National Science and Engineering fair which was held at Kibabii High School in Bungoma. Whenever I would go with him to the school where I currently teach, he was always drawn to the physics laboratory where he would check out the school projects and apparatus.
With the discovery of his interests, it was crucial to find a school that would hold space for his love for building and discovering and further guiding and shaping his curiosity. As an educator, I had been following Christopher Khaemba’s unique education approach from Friends School Kamusinga to Alliance High School and then to The African Leadership Academy in South Africa. With Mr. Khaemba at the helm of Nova Pioneer’s leadership team, I was confident that Nova Pioneer’s focus on Project Based Learning, innovation and leadership, will add an insurmountable amount of value to Yasin’s life.
Making It Work: Overcoming The Hurdles
As a family, we were already head over heels in love with the school after bringing Yasin for his interview at the Tatu City campus. It was clear to us after he got his offer that it would be an uphill task to tell Yasin that the cost of attendance at Nova Pioneer would be prohibitive. From the look of things, our modest earnings as teachers would not allow us to foot the cost of Yasin attending Nova Pioneer.
As normal parents would do, we had to pull our resources together and figure out a way to make it work. Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Armed with determination and supplemental income from dairy farming and poultry keeping, I joined a merry go round, table banking group of six ladies called Blessed Sisters where we contribute thirty thousand shillings per month. Through the help of this group, I managed to complete the full year fees for Yasin by July. This has given me much flexibility to plan ahead and ensure that I’m consistently ahead on payments. “No Human is Limited” – Eliud Kipchoge.
Learning During A Pandemic.
When the government closed all learning institutions in March, learning at Nova never stopped. They simply transitioned to virtual learning. As a teacher in an inadequately resourced school, I was unable to facilitate virtual classes for my students and therefore took this time to attend my son’s online classes. This experience has been nothing short of amazing and eye-opening. The things Yasin is able to do on the laptop make me very happy given he didn’t learn any computer in primary school.
My personal favorite sessions have been the morning barazas. I vividly recall Dr. Benson Kairu(The school Principal) on one of the barazas talking to the young men about the Marshmallow experiment. It was very gripping to see how his points on exercising patience, self-control, and putting off instant gratification, were delivered in such a simple and relatable yet very practical manner.
I have also learned a lot just by observing the teachers. They have been extraordinarily consistent in their commitment to serve the learners at times, even late into the night. I remember a time when Yasin was doing revision for his midterm exam and encountered some difficulties in his calculations, he immediately sought help from his teacher of Mathematics (Mr. Carlos Ominde) who gave him feedback through email at around 11 pm. He often called Mr.Katumo his teacher of English late in the night for consultation and always got sorted.
The delivery of lessons has been world-class. Their lessons are always interactive and the teachers always go above and beyond in ensuring the classes, albeit virtual, are conducive for learning. It was very endearing to see how even in the virtual classes, the collaborative approach to learning is adhered to. The break out rooms, class presentations and projects enhance the Joy of learning. My snaps and shout outs go to all F1S1 teachers: Mr.Abucheri, Mr.Hisabu, Mr.Kerabu, Ms.Wafula, Ms.Shanyisa, Mr.Nyamu, Mr.Ngahu, Ms.Kimetto and all the others.
Furthermore, the young men carry out projects either individually or in groups assigned to them by the teachers. The projects have helped Yasin develop research skills and he’s now more capable of doing such things on his own without supervision. The projects that are done as a group have enabled Yasin to embrace the culture principle; greater together. In fact, together with his classmates like Kizito, Okoth and Muhando, they have gone as far as creating their own zoom meetings to discuss and prepare for exams in the evenings. They are now working on the Post School Success Project with Mr.Hisabu as their faculty member.
Through the virtual learning that the school has implemented, I can stand as a proud parent to say that Yasin has developed a high form of discipline and self-startership. He always shows up for all the classes in time and has never missed to put on his uniform even for a single day. To add on to that, the school through the end of term report card has shown that everything that takes place in the classroom counts. This is seen when the report card entails the opener exam, quick quizzes, quizzes, midterm exam and projects. Through this, the young men are able to understand that they need to take everything seriously since they sum up to the final result.
The Nova Pioneer curriculum designers have gone out of their way to support teachers with truly engaging lesson plans. There’s the incorporation of audio-visual resources such as eye-catching videos and pictures. The reading of novels that are not KCSE set texts is worth mentioning. This term for example the Form Ones studied Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. I remember recently when I wanted to buy a cooker Yasin engaged me on the possibility of buying it online. I showed much valid apprehension to his idea as I wanted to see it first before I made the purchase. Yasin was able to draw a relatable comparison with a character from Chinua Achebe’s book that left me tongue-tied. He insisted I should not be like Okonkwo and that I should consider changing with the times! As a teacher of English and Literature myself, this comparison made me proud. It speaks to the level of relatability and relevance the content they are being exposed to really is.
This is indeed a great journey of hope and faith. I am certain that by the time Yasin gets to Form Four, he will have developed tremendously. My prayer is that he later joins an Ivy League University to pursue Engineering. I have faith that through Nova Pioneer’s robust international exposure modules courtesy of the Post School Success Team, he will be able to make it.
I highly recommend Nova Pioneer for any parent out there who has big dreams for their child. Champions are truly made from a desire, a dream and a vision!
