Newsletter 3

The last two weeks have been very busy at BKIS; actually learning has been real. For the first time in BKIS we had an opportunity to mark the Martin Luther King Jr. day. Each third Monday of January, many schools in the world celebrate the life of Martin Luther King by bringing to life his words and his dream. It was interesting to learn the kind of dreams our boys and girls have in BKIS. Below is a report of the day by Mrs. Odhaimbo:

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY

This was the first time students at our school did a special Martin Luther King Day program, the hope was that they would learn something about why Martin Luther King Day is a special day. The program did that and much more, according to Samwel Atonga, principal of the school.

At the end of the program, when the boys and girls sat down, joined hands, and together wrote their dreams, "some parents and teachers were touched and had tears and praises for the program," said Winnie, the deputy head teacher.

Josephine, the EYFS teacher, reported that even the kindergarteners recall information about the leader. The knowledge they gained through storytelling and buddy reading with the year five students has stuck with them.

One of the themes of Dr. King's 'I Have a Dream' speech was that he believed people should not be judged by the color of their skin; instead, they should be judged by the content of their character. Our school carries out that mission by meeting the academic needs of our students and actively encouraging them to apply their knowledge in meaningful ways, such as inculcating termly values like Team Work and Courtesy. As students practice this process in small-group instruction, they must always remember to display peace and equality among each other in a learning situation.

Consequently, it is our hope that the BKIS boys and girls become a voice in the community, letting others know that being prejudiced hurts and that we should strive to live together in peace and harmony regardless of size, color, or ability. Also that they help keep the memory of Dr. King alive in a very creative way.

 MSMUN

We also had a group of boys and girls out for the MSMUN conference in Nairobi. This was a week-long conference where the participants had the opportunity to enhance their skills in research, presentation, debating, lobbying, problem solving and diplomacy. Below is a report as captured by Ms. Mukui the MSMUN Advisor.

This year’s MSMUN’s theme was: Nilikuja, Niliona, Nilitenda. For the days the conference was running, students were to take pictures with non-familiar students and use the theme as a hashtag to show that each day they learnt something new. BKIS had two countries: Marshall Islands and Belize. With each country having different committees, students were debating, amending, lobbying for the resolutions that they wrote the previous year. The whole idea of this club is to enrich learners with debating skills and the ability to debate various topics within health, technology, ecology and human rights. There is intense research undertaken in order to be able to debate and in the process wide knowledge of different countries is acquired. With this in mind, there is a confidence boost. It is no easy task facing over 400 students from different schools for four days!

 Braeburn Scouts Camporee

We did it again! This has now become an annual event in our calendar. Our boys and girls got an opportunity to meet scouts from other Braeburn schools at Kembu in Molo. The experience was just amazing. Below is a report by Mr. Yamo; the scouts’ leader:

Scouts Trip

We arrived on camp at around 12:30 and were the first Braeburn campus to arrive. We immediately embarked on setting up our tents and in the spirit of thoughtfulness, assisted the other campuses in setting up their tents. We joined the rest of the scouts during the opening ceremony and later on enjoyed some refreshments from the hosts (Infinity). Later that evening we were able to light our own camp fire which was used in cooking our supper. The BKIS scouts ended up preparing the best sausages and meals on camp, all thanks to the stewardship of Ms. Muga. All medical and dietary considerations were factored in during our stay at camp. The scouts were also able to complete their animal husbandry budge course by building a chicken house and later on taking care of the chicken they received.

On the second day, all the scouts were divided into various groups with the purpose of taking on various activities arranged by hosts including an obstacle course, first aid, the amazing race and lastly the farm visits with breaks in between to allow for rest and refreshments. It was a proud moment for BKIS when Maaya was actually selected as a troop leader. She confidently carried out her duties as troop leader. The scouts displayed a lot of perseverance, hard work and team spirit throughout these activities. Later that day we prepared our own pizzas for supper before retiring to bed. The chilly nights under our tents did little to dampen our resolve to conquer what we set out to achieve.

Parents received periodical updates on each and every activity through text and only one phone call on the second day of camp was allowed. All throughout the three days of camp the BKIS scouts conducted themselves with lots of decorum and confidence while maintaining the true BKIS values.

 Art Trip

The importance of taking the students out of the classroom to absorb, interact and be immersed in history, and educational tours, has several learning benefits to our teaching and learning. This week, a combined Art trip for Year 5 and 6 was organized and the results were amazing as captured below:

Year 5 students have been learning about the Great Artists. So far they have learnt about Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, and Paul Rembrandt. They also had a chance to visit a local artist, Mr. Wycliffe, who is a ceramicist based at Ilesi Market near Kakamega town. The Year 6 students have been learning about African Arts .They were taught how to make pottery, ceramics and sculptures out of clay. They were practically taken through traditional wheel throwing techniques and each one of them had a chance to model something. They were also shown how firing takes place in the traditional kiln. Fidel W. (Year 6) was so impressed that he suggested the artist be called to BKIS to construct a similar but smaller kiln.

Sports Desk

Last Saturday we had an open swimming Gala at Agha Khan Primary. Despite the fact that majority of the swimmers were out on different school trips, we were ably represented by our year two boys and girls. We thank Deven, Sanay, Krit, Anika and Kieran for the excellent performance as well good representation of BKIS.

Verse Speaking Competition

The annual inter-school verse speaking competition will be held at Nairobi academy tomorrow. BKIS will be represented by Dhara S. and Precious O. The two have had opportunities to present the poems to the BKIS community where confidence and good articulation of words have been evident. We wish them well in the event.