First Science Fair in Afghanistan held at A4T School in Kabul on May 29th!
See the Science Fair Report HERE and learn about the experiments, ceremony and more!
See a photo album of the Science Fair held on May 29th in our A4T Photo Library! (Choose Album Number 23 at the bottom of the albums listed on the left)
The student below experiments with different feed rations on egg production of the hen. Her group's presentation on this experiment won 1st place!
A4T 1 began a Science Fair project in Dec. 2009 in order to build capacity in critical thinking and conducting independent research among students. This was the first time a school attempted a science fair project in Afghanistan and students were extremely motivated in conducting their experiments.
Eight teams of students from the 7th and 8th grades conducted independent research and experiments and were monitored by their science teachers. Technical support was provided by a teacher from the International School of Kabul (ISK), a university professor from Kabul Education University, and A4T's office in Kabul.
All these three institutions also formed a panel of judges which evaluated each student's project during the fair on May 29, 2010. A4T went one step further by including the process of the Science Fair in science textbooks for secondary schools and we are hoping that it will flourish into a common practice in schools around the country. A4T Vocational and Training Center is our primary school in Kabul. There are 190 students, including more than 60 new students, in 1st to 8th grade. In March we unfortunately had to close our 2nd school in Kabul, Janet/A4T School, and decided to merge it with this school.
A4T is committed to educating girls. However, we also need to be fiscally responsible. A very difficult decision was made to close the school. We communicated our decision to the student's parents and they agreed to send their daughters to other government schools in that area, but located in a more residential setting. We offered the A4T #2 teaching staff the first opportunity to join the A4T school # 1. Two of the teachers accepted the offer, and the rest declined as they opted to work closer to home and found other positions.
While this was an extremely difficult and emotional decision, we believe that this was the right decision. We now have 2 shifts at A4T#1 with girls in the morning and boys in the afternoon shift. Many boys are siblings of the girls, whose parents want to send all their children to the same school, so we decided to make this change as well to keep the families together.
All the new students starting this school year are paying a small tuition to help us continue to expand on teacher training and more resources for all the students. With grants harder and harder to obtain, we are dedicated to continuing to offer a superior private education and to becoming as self sufficient as possible!
Six laptops donated to A4T School # 1
On Oct. 4, 2009 Shannon Galpin, founder of Mountain to Mountain (M2M), brought these laptops from Colorado for the 7th grade students. M2M also funded a computer teacher at A4T, and a generator for the computer lab.
The girls are working hard on these new laptops and learning more about the world. The whole event was filmed by an Australian photojournalist, Davis Beard, who accompanied Shannon. A4T students thanked Mountain to Mountain for donating these laptops and a flag of Afghanistan made by A4T was given to Shannon as gift of appreciation.
Students at computer lab, A4T School # 1:
This is one of the 12-week computer classes for 7th graders. The curriculum taught by their teacher includes: Typing in Dari and English, Windows Operating system, and Word.
See the 'A4T School video' Click the arrow below to see our school in Kabul and interviews with an A4T board member, our students and principal:
Produced by Devin Foxall.
A4T School #1 2008 Report: We are currently serving 106 students*, and have a Principal, Vice Principal, nine teachers and three support staff (cook and guards). There is an average of 16 students in each classroom. ............. To read the rest of this report and the reports for 2007 and 2006, please click here. Please view the photo albums of A4T School # 1 HERE in our Photo Library.
A4T1 students in English class, 3-20-07, by Susan Hall.
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