| Invited
by the Ford Foundation,
University of Washington educators first traveled to Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in 1999. Meeting with school leaders and administrators forged lasting relationships based on shared goals of educational equity and access. Professor Ed Taylor says, “You can stand in the heart of the schools and see shanties and deep poverty, but in that school, you also feel the sense of hope, of optimism, of commitment to a struggle and a sense of history. There is an absolute sense of urgency.” This sense of urgency
compelled Seattle school leaders to sponsor 7 South African principals
to come to Seattle in 2003. They participated in leadership training
at schools throughout the state, including the Yakima Reservation.
“Coming to America made us realize that we could do a lot
of this ourselves”, according to Bruce Damons, principal of
Sapphire Primary school. |
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Coalition
of Seattle and Port Elizabeth Principals| When they returned, they organized a consortium of township principals ready to create change. Active Schools started with school security. Using a welding machine, and the labor of parents, they fabricated window bars and door protectors. Vandalism, long a local problem, was eliminated at each of the Active Schools. From this vision of self-sufficiency has come the full spectrum of Active School programs. Relationships between South African and Seattle principals have inspired a global vision of education. "We live in one world," says Lunga Dyani. "Even if we are divided by seas. We need to exchange ideas to see how we can bring students to make a meaningful contribution to the economy of this world." |  |
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