Anita Sturgies

Anita Sturgies's Fundraiser

Help Bring Quality Science Education to Girls image

Help Bring Quality Science Education to Girls

Please Support Me as a Pivot Academy Rwanda Lead Teacher, June 2016

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$2,520 towards $3,600

Hello! I'm excited to share . . .

. . . that I've been invited to be part of a small group of teachers from Charlotte, NC, who will lead an innovative project called Pivot Academy Rwanda. For two weeks from mid- to late June 2016, Pivot Academy will provide 21st century science and computer training and education at a rural Rwandan high school for almost 900 girls called "Biyimana." Engineering and computer studies students from North Carolina State University and Johnson C. Smith will travel with us. I feel honored to be selected by Charlotte-based nonprofit Mothering Across Continents for the chance to be part of this education team!

Please Help with a Donation
I really want to make this difference as a catalyst for global girls' empowerment through science. So, I'll volunteer my time in Rwanda. But I need to get there to participate! . . . I'm asking family, friends, fellow educators, science lovers, and supporters of girls' education to help cover $3,600 needed for airfare, housing, meals, and materials. Your generous donation through this page is tax-deductible!

What I'll Be Doing
With your support, I'll put my knowledge and experience teaching IB Chemistry at North Mecklenburg High in Charlotte to very good use in Rwanda. Already, with hopes of going, I've worked with the team to develop lesson plans that align with the Rwandan national science curriculum, as well as experiments inspired by research on agriculture and water issues in Rwanda. We're loading curricular content and other resources onto tablets donated for teachers and students to use throughout the school year. "On the ground", I will:

  • Train Rwandan teachers and university students
  • Conduct experiments with sub-groups of 150 eleventh grade girls
  • Help define community service projects to put the learning to work

I'm sure that this trip will have an impact. Deb Semmler, a physics and engineering teacher at Charlotte's East Mecklenburg High School, led a girls' science education pilot at "Biyimana" last year. Deb is an award-winning teacher nominated for the 2015 Global Teacher of the Year Prize. She's leading the June 2016 Pivot Academy Rwanda. The project and I are in very good hands!

Need and How Girls Benefit
I've been learning about Rwanda, including how the country moved past the 1994 genocide. It's interesting that Rwanda just had its third "Ms. Geek" competition to encourage women university students to use STEM and ICT. The big challenge, though, is that Rwanda at large does not have enough managers, teachers and young people with training (especially in high school) to use science and engineering to solve agriculture, sanitation and healthcare problems. The knowledge gap is especially wide for girls at schools in rural areas such as the town where the Biyimana school is located. Teachers and students throughout Rwanda are eager for hands-on training and mentoring to apply Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Computer knowledge.

Bigger Dream
Pivot Academy is "a first" for the Biyimana school. And the impact has potential to go even further. Pivot Academy is a model that can be replicated. Rwandan mentors that we'll train can share Pivot Academy with other schools. Schools from neighboring countries in East Africa are already asking about Pivot Academy possibly coming to them in the future. And I can't wait to return to Charlotte and create new global learning connections for students that I'll be teaching at North Meck High in the 2016-17 academic year!

With a full heart and high hopes that you'll help with a donation . . . Anita