Ordinary Board Meeting
Today was a day of listening for me. I have had a chance to get an inside look at what this school is truly about. It was a great experience for me, but the element of surprise was very brief. There is little that I heard today that I haven’t heard before. Most of the new things I heard had to do with what is on the horizon for the activities of the school, and what surprised me were about the interpersonal relationships of the governing body.
It is not that we don’t see things like that, but open enmity between top officials of the school, at the beginning of an important meeting, and in front of all colleauges kind of freaks me out. And did i mention that the school is run by less than fifteen people? It gives me the impression that this place has a lot of basics it still has to cover. After nearly a decade behind it, the school is facing things it was facing in its beginnings, and things seem to have gotten worse.
You will excuse me from stating things in a subjective manner, but I am trying not to call any names since I only wanted to mention it because the meeting opened with a lot of tension.
I learned today that the school was first opened in the early 2000s, and had to close after just five years, and then reopened seven years ago, and this generation of students will be the third promotion of learners since its second genesis.
I hope you are also curious to know what is on the horizon. Well, we are about to sow sixteen acres into different grains and plant enterprises.
Helping my students sow some black-eyed peas
Hopefully, the students who remain on campus will be motivated enough to help with the maintenance. Some plants are actually vegetables, and will need a little more work.
The students will be split into two cohorts. The first cohort will be given one month of summer in august. Which means cohort number 2 will remain on campus to work the fields. When cohort 1 comes back, then cohort two gets to take September off. When both groups are back on campus in October, then the teacher will evaluate the students in the various subjects offered this semester. Then, it will be year 2 for all students, at the end of which they will have to take the national exam given to students in informal education. This will determine which students get certified and which ones have to retake the exam, and probably more classes.
