Archdiocesan team arrives safely in Nsukka on Friday June 25th.

Archdiocesan Team Members
Esther S. Hicks, OCS Director of Catholic Identity and Mission and USA Project Coordinator
Sr. Barbara Jean Ciszek, CSJ, Principal, Cardinal Bernardin Early Childhood Center  
Joyce Duriga, Editor, Catholic New World, Newspaper for the Archdiocese of Chicago  
Carol R. Fendt, PhD, Co-Director, PRAIRIE Group, University of Illinois at Chicago
Jeanne Henry, Teacher, Holy Family Catholic Academy
By arriving a few days before the large meetings, team members could reconnect with their friends from earlier visits. Pray for Fr. John who is hospitalized with a stroke. The Bishop was happy to meet with the team on Saturday and showed the Kola Nut. This story telling tradition helps to strengthen the shared history among friends. The local Education Committee met with the Archdiocesan Team in the afternoon to review the schedule and presentations for the following weeks.

Great News for Nsukka!

Chuck Newman and Dr. Patricia Merryweather returned from Nsukka on Easter Sunday after a week of site visits and planning meetings. Greetings from all of our friends in Nsukka and gratitude to Chuck and Dr. Merryweather for their remarkable work on behalf of all those working on this partnership!  Enjoy their graphic report below, use the arrow to open it in a new window.

Join this action to get our schools built!

Chuck Newman announces: Over the past 14 years, I have probably bored you to tears about the wonderful people I have had the opportunity to work with as we, Schools for the Children of the World, (SCW) helped to plan, design and build schools in many countries around the world. 

FINALLY, we have planned  an event in Naperville, Illinois where you will be able to meet these extraordinary people and experience the cultures, hors d'oeuvres, wine, and sounds of the countries we work in.  You will have an opportunity to meet and talk with people we have worked with for many years from Honduras, Haiti, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and India.  You will also get to meet both students and adults that have traveled with us over the years.

Please join us for an unforgettable opportunity to make new friends and learn what SCW is doing to make a difference for children and families all over the world.  Join us for :

School Aid

Saturday evening, November 12, 2011, from 7:00-9:30 PM

at the Alfred Rubin Community Center

305 W. Jackson Avenue   Naperville, Illinois

$75/person               dress is informal

Make Reservations at:  http://scw-2011.eventbrite.com/

Day 5. Organizational structures that support the 2020 Vision and the Model school approach.

Today will focus on syntheses.  Participants will organize the work of the week so that they can share it with their coworkers who are unable to come in for the seminar.  They will go over the work of the health committee to see how it will be woven into the school Vision 2020.  The institutional work will be explained: fund raising, grant applications, ongoing training in topics covered during the seminar.  The program concludes with certificates and celebration.  The seminar has been completed and the families of Nsukka Diocese will realize their opportunities in new and creative ways because of the work of all these educators both during the seminar and throughout its implementation in the Catholic Schools of the whole area.

Day 4 We are the model school. Living the 2020 Vision

Continuing the group work seminar participants work out the steps that are needed to go from the present into the future.  Specifically they talked about the structures that would be necessary to for this transformation.  Then the tasks were put into a time line showing which could be started with this coming school year and which would need to wait until the Model School is built, or until the materials are more available.  They will be asking whether the primary and elementary schools should lead the way so the students can grow into with this visionary education, or whether the secondary schools should lead the way so that they can prepare personnel to move out into the reinvigorated diocesan schools.  After the groups completed their reports the information was organized for all to see.

Day 3: Understanding a New Vision of Education through the Story of the Universe and our Model School

A few days ago, Fr. Willie Odo told those who follow this blog a turtle story.  It is one of the many turtle stories found among indigenous cultures.  After comparing and contrasting these stories, the seminar participants will hear from Chuck Neuman one of the principals in Schools for the Children of the World.  They have prepared the architectural drawings  for the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka Model School.  This campus has two wings: one for teacher training, the other for students with whom to learn.  This central teaching / learning site will be linked to all the schools of the diocese, enabling all schools to offer the model school experience to their students. No matter how far the school is from Nsukka, local administrators, teachers and students will have the basic tools to  using many different forms of intelligence.  The participants worked toward the outlines necessary changes they will need to their school a model school for their students.   For more information on the model school read the planning guidelines.

Day 2. Understanding a New Vision of Education through Multiple Intelligences.

You wonder what education through Multiple Intelligences is?  Just like the participants in the seminar, you find this answer best by beginning with yourself.  How do you learn?  We are all concerned about the earthquake in Japan.  Would you rather read about it in the newspaper, or listen to reporters talk about it?  Do you like the first person stories coming from the survivors or the videos of the tsumani washing homes away?  Do you have family or friends in Japan whom you can talk to?  Or do you have investments in Japan which will need rebuilding?  Each of us learns differently.  After the participants reflect on their own learning styles, they work in groups to take some of the lessons they teaching, and design the material engaging the Multiple Intelligences of their students.