Academic Families

As a way to help students through their two most stressful and difficult years of secondary school, St. Monica’s organizes Academic Families. One teacher is assigned to meet fortnightly with five girls as an academic family. (Did you know fortnightly means every two weeks? I sure didn’t.) The purpose is to organize girls from different classes with one adult to talk about issues that are affecting them, study skills, goals, answer any questions, discuss simply anything that is on their mind.

This is my Form IV Academic Family. Meet Macklyn, Winnie, Veronica, Katherine and Millie. Millie wants to become a journalist, Winnie a plant geneticist, Veronica a pilot, Katherine a surgeon and Macklyn a human resource manager. During our first meeting they had to fill out paperwork indicating their marks (grades), academic goals, and hoped for KCSE scores. They asked for extra work in English which I am happy to provide. Surprisingly, they have already completed one extra assignment I gave them

We have also formed Academic Families for the Form III students. We met for our first time this past week. Two of my “girls” are in my English class. That means I only have to learn three new names. Since it is their junior year, they don’t have near the pressure yet. We were able to informally chat and get to know one another.

This weekend is Visitation Weekend. It is the one chance that parents get for the term to come and visit their daughters. I decided to go and see any of my Academic Family girls whose parents weren’t able to come. This is Caren and Rispa enjoying biscuits (cookies). They aren’t allowed to have any outside food except on Visitation Days, so they were thrilled to be able to have something sweet.

When Caren comes to school she has to travel for 14 hours. Luckily, she has a brother who also attends a school in Kitale so they are able to travel together. They leave home at 2:00 am and arrive just before the gates close at 4:00 pm.

Rispa has been attending boarding school since she was in Standard Two (2nd grade). Several girls her age started going to a boarding school several hours away when they were only 8 years old! Their parents would put them on an Easy Coach bus and they would travel together. Easy Coach is the bus we travel on to Nairobi. They have metal detectors and screen people as they get on the bus. It is the safest bus line in Kenya, but I still don’t think I would be able to put my 8 year old daughter on it to send her off to school for three months!