UD Mandela Washington Fellows tour Kuumba Academy, visiting classrooms.

Learning about education

UD Mandela Washington Fellows gain insight from Delaware education system

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10:46 a.m., Sept. 2, 2015--Delaware education experts, administrators, teachers, and students came together last month with the University of Delaware’s Mandela Washington Fellows for an in-depth tour of education in the First State.

During a morning panel with representatives from the Delaware Department of Education, Rodel Foundation, 1313 Innovation Center, Colonial School District, TeenSHARP and Thomas Edison Charter School, the fellows had the opportunity to gain perspective on the challenges, goals and successes of the local education system.

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The experts addressed topics including finance, governance, curriculum development and equality in education, among others.

The 25 young African leaders also took the opportunity to make connections and seek guidance on implementing policies aimed at creating access to a sound education in their home countries. 

“Education enlightens. It helps people acquire skills. Education makes people explore the limitlessness. Education frees,” said Nadege Afoutou, a 2015 UD Mandela Washington Fellow and current chair of Education, Citizenship and Change in Togo (E2CTogo). 

For Afoutou and many other fellows who are at the forefront of addressing issues of education, this day was a pivotal experience in their Mandela Washington Fellowship journey.  

Dusty Blakey, superintendent of the Colonial School District who holds a doctor of education degree in educational leadership from UD’s College of Education and Human Development, reflected on this important link between access to education and later personal and community success.

“The two themes we follow in our district are access and opportunity,” Blakey said, “because if I can’t provide access to a quality education, then I cut the opportunity for our students.”  

Later in the day, the fellows had the opportunity to tour Wilmington’s Kuumba Academy, a charter school aimed at providing a rigorous and quality education to primarily low-income families.

Guided by the Nguzo Saba principles of respect, responsibility, creativity and persistence, the school aims to close the achievement gap between minority and low-income students and their more affluent peers.

“Eighty-nine percent of our students live in poverty, but are out-pacing their more affluent peers,” said Raye Jones Avery, a founding board member of Kuumba Academy. “The poverty argument isn’t holding up, that the poverty and achievement gap go hand in hand. We’re starting to talk about the equity and expectations gap.”  

For Aminata Bintou Wahab Mbaye, a Mandela Washington Fellow and founding member of Bridge Kids Senegal, this primary goal of filling the equity and expectations gap in education rang particularly true.

“When somebody or something hampers the enjoyment of your rights to education,” Mbaye said, “you have to fight back infinite times to overcome because education is key to success.” 

Through Bridge Kids Senegal, Mbaye works to help young people unleash their social entrepreneurial spirits to solve economic development, education, environmental, girls’ rights and health challenges. 

The fellows also had the chance to see how Kuumba Academy operates by visiting middle and elementary school classrooms. In each, the leaders introduced themselves and enjoyed quizzing students on African geography.

The day concluded with a panel and discussion with high school and college students who have taken part in the TeenSHARP Program, an organization aimed at creating access to the nation’s most selective universities for low income and minority students.

In addition, fellows were met by Teach for America members and DelaCore members, as well as representatives from Public Allies and the Parent Advocacy Council for Education (PACE) for a networking dinner.  

About the Mandela Washington Fellowship at UD

The Mandela Washington Fellowship is the flagship program of President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). This program brings over 500 young African leaders to the United States each year for leadership training, academic coursework and mentoring on 20 university campuses across the country.

The University of Delaware Institute, run under the auspices of the Institute for Global Studies, focuses on civic leadership. This summer, the program brought 25 Mandela Washington Fellows to UD for an academically grounded program focused on practical skill building. 

Fellows engaged in community service, participated in site visits and cultural activities, and benefitted from leadership training provided by University and local experts.

This year’s fellows hailed from 22 countries, including Benin, Botswana, Cape Verde, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau for Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX)

About the Institute for Global Studies

The Institute for Global Studies was created in 2009 to enhance the international dimensions of teaching, research and outreach at the University of Delaware. IGS provides leadership and support for programs and experiences that contribute to the education of informed, skilled, open-minded citizens of the world.

Best known for coordinating the University’s study abroad program, IGS also awards scholarships and grants to faculty and students for a number of global opportunities, and administers internationally-recognized State Department-sponsored programs such as the UD Fulbright Initiative, Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Student Leaders Institute, Mandela Washington Fellowship Program for Young African Leaders, and most recently the Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders on Women’s Leadership (SUSI-WL) program.

IGS sponsors such signature events as Global Month each fall and country-specific celebrations each spring.

IGS collaborates with other global partners on campus, including the Office for International Students and Scholars, the Confucius Institute and the Center for Global and Area Studies. In addition, IGS partners with Enrollment Management to coordinate the UD World Scholars Program.

Article by Nikki Laws

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