Conduct a school visit in Haiti to learn more about its program and needs, and establish a collaborative learning environment that benefits students in both countries.
While working and visiting with the faculty at the Crosby Fund for Haitian Education and our sister school Ecole Flamboyant in Deschapelles, Haiti, I was able to learn songs that are sung with Haitian children in school. I visited our sister school to see what their classrooms are like, met with the school's director and talked about music in their school. I was thrilled to find out that they receive music in their classroom.
I am planning on teaching the students at my school the songs that I learned. The children at my school were very interested to learn about the artist who made instruments that they used in class. While in Haiti, I met with the artist and plan on sharing that with my students. I would also like to keep in contact with the director of Ecole Flamboyant and possibly Skype from my classroom to the Crosby Fund Education Center, which is across the field from Ecole Flamboyant.
I think that my greatest personal accomplishment was going to a country in which I had to speak French to communicate with the children, and many of the adults. I haven't spoken French in more than twenty years, so I was very intimidated at first. Taking this risk allowed me to build a relationship with the director of our sister school. I hope to have started a relationship that will continue and I hope to return again to foster that relationship.
Students will be positively impacted by my experience by learning authentic, age-appropriate children's songs from the Artibonite Valley in Haiti, where our sister school is located. I brought home authentic instruments for them to play and they will be able to see authentic artwork and view videos of Haitian children singing and dancing. Being able to speak to my children from a first hand experience will mean more to them than just viewing the pictures/videos.
As a member of a team of teachers that went to Haiti, we are planning on presenting our experience to the community, (PTO, Board of Ed, school faculty) as well as collaborating on a Haiti Day experience for the students at our school. I also plan on sharing the music/videos that I collected with the other ten elementary music teachers in our district, so that they are able to share my experiences with their students.
I envision that we will have a Haiti Day celebration in which the students will be able to share what they have learned about our sister school in Haiti with their families. I hope to have the students sing songs that I have collected while visiting Haiti. In this performance, they will be able to play authentic Haitian instruments that I brought back from Deschapelles. This performance is an important way to make a real connection for our students in the US with our sister school in Haiti.
Schooling in Haiti is private. It costs about $200 to send a child to elementary school. Our team hopes to raise money each year to provide a scholarship for four students to go to school through high school. Four students have already been selected and have received the money for this upcoming school year. I hope that our students/faculty can work to continue to raise money to support these four students' education.
Despite all of the hardships that Haitians endure, music was still a very lively part of the culture and was apparent in many different ways. Whether is was in church, the singing of children playing games, or a celebration in town, I saw and heard Haitian's making incredibly beautiful music. The music they performed seemed to be part of their identity and something to which everyone related. I hope to continue to learn more about Haitian music and share my learning with my students.
FUND FOR TEACHERS ©