Christiana Norris Middle School — Blog — Mali Rising Foundation

Christiana Norris Middle School

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Sewing for a Better Future

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Clothing has always had an important place in our society and in our African communities. Through textiles, we tell a story and we highlight the culture of a country. For the young women we work with in Mali, creating clothing can also be a path to an independent future! How is that possible you ask ? For young women (and men too !) become a tailor is a respectable job in Mali and it allows you to be your own boss. This makes it an attractive dream for many of our students. Bana is one such student.

Why Chalkboard Art Matters

As we start to get closer to the end of the school year, I’ve been talking with our teachers about the Chalkboard Art Contest. This is a chance for teachers to show off how they use the primary teaching tool in a Mali classroom — the chalkboard. Our teachers create beautiful maps, diagrams, and more to help students learn. I asked one of our teachers, Mr. Mariko, to share his thoughts on the contest and the value of chalkboard art.

One Teacher Amazes His Peers

Lamine Mariko is an incredible science teacher at Christiana Norris Middle School. But don’t take my word for it – his teacher peers made that clear when they gave him a big round of applause at our most recent Teacher Peer Meeting!Lamine Mariko is an incredible science teacher at Christiana Norris Middle School. But don’t take my word for it – his teacher peers made that clear when they gave him a big round of applause at our most recent Teacher Peer Meeting!

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A Young Girl's Plan for A Better Future

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Banachako Kante is a 9th grader at Christiana Norris Middle School in the rural village of Banko. Banachako has a practical plan for her future, rooted in education and informed by an understanding of the job market that reflects a wisdom well beyond her 14 years.

Up Close With Two Teachers From Banko

At a recent peer meeting we had the chance to talk with two teachers from one of our newer school – Christiana Norris Middle School in the village of Banko. Teachers are what make a school a life-changing place, so great teachers are key to our students’ futures. Get to know two of Banko’s teachers just a little bit through these mini-profiles from our chat.

Teachers Helping Teachers

I wanted to share some great photos from a recent Teacher Peer Meeting with teachers from two of our more remote schools. Because these teachers have a harder time connecting with some of our events, we hosted a two-day event just for them at a centralized location and it was a big success.

New Teachers Dive In to Learning & Sharing

For the last several years, Mali Rising has hosted teacher peer meetings with many schools. These peer meetings have been very well received by our teachers, so we wanted to get our newest teachers involved as soon as possible. As a result, Christiana Norris Middle School recently joined their first peer meeting. All four of the new school’s teachers participated in the peer meeting, and they were joined by all the teachers from our Trujillo Family Middle School. One of Banko’s participating teachers was Mr. Moumoune Koné

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Teachers MAKE the School at Christiana Norris Middle School

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Mali middle schools are typically home to an average of four teachers, although our schools range from 3 to 11! Because there are 8 core subjects in Mali’s national curriculum, teachers must cover multiple subjects. For example, the French teacher is usually required to teach history and/or geography as well. Often the English teacher will teach art or another subject. At Christiana Norris Middle School, there are currently four teachers, including the principal.

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Serious Soumaila Has a Plan for His Village & His Future

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My name is Soumaila Doumbia. I am 17 years old. I am in the 8th grade at Christiana Norris Middle School in Banko. I live in Banko with my parents. My father is a preacher (seer). He teaches me a bit about what he does but it's my school studies that I love. My mother sells pancakes at the market. Last year for 7th grade, I traveled to a school in a village called Touban. Touban is 11 km from Banko. I made this trip by bike in 90 minutes with other boys from my village who attended the same school. I was often late and the bike often broke.

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Working Together for a New School in Banko

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By Merritt Frey, Executive Director, with Alou Doumbia, Construction Manager

We are overjoyed that the new middle school for the children of Banko — Christiana Norris Middle School — is now open in Mali and serving kids. Alas, for now we cannot do the typical ceremonial opening with the Norris Family, who generously sponsored the school. Instead, our staff brought a video from the Norris Family to share with the students and interviewed students, staff, and parents about the new school. Over this week, I’ll be sharing stories and interviews from that trip. Today we hear from the president of Banko’s primary school committee [we will hear from the middle school president later], a group of parents and elders who manage the school.

Oumar Doumbia president du comité de l'école primaire.jpg

My name is Oumar Doumbia, president of the primary school’s school committees in the village of Banko school. We now have two school management committees thanks to the opening of Christiana Norris Middle School here.

As part of my presidential duties, the village chief and I have been to neighboring villages asking them to send their students to the new middle school. Sending students from other villages to our new middle school will make it easier for children to be educated, because so many of our neighboring villages suffer the same problem we used to suffer – schools too far from home for our students to attend. There were many  students out of school or unable to continue their studies due to lack of food and the regular breakdown of their bikes on the trip to school. Because of the distance the children traveled, students from some families actually left our village, and many did not return.

The CAP of Bougouni [the local unit of the Ministry of Education] and the town hall supported us. City hall officials came to meet us to identify our concerns and the challenges we faced in opening a school. Once we had a school, the officials helped advocate for teachers to be assigned to our school. The CAP approved this request and sent us two teachers. This meant the village and the school committee also had to recruit two other teachers, which has been successfully completed.

I especially salute you and the Americans who helped us achieve our goal of building a middle school in Banko. I want this partnership to continue so that this school project progresses. As many children as possible in Banko must be able to access higher education. The parents of the students and we are all at the same level of joy in this project because the additional expenses for the children to reach school, the cost of food, the repair of the bikes, the energy and the journey time are all reduced. I salute the Norris family’s effort to make the school possible.

I ask students to take their studies seriously. I call on parents of students to make sure students attend school regularly. Parents must do everything they can to ensure that children can do well in school because happiness comes. We are very happy that our school is functional because we did not know that it could be done – but now we know everything is possible when we work together!