Building a school is the easy part. Sustaining a quality learning environment that addresses the needs of girls and boys requires vision, commitment and partnership.

AN EXTRAORDINARY HALF YEAR IN ATSEMBA

It's been a whirlwind six months since the Atsemba Grade 5-8 Community School first opened. In just six short months the school has stepped into its own and confirmed for us that investing in complete primary education in Atsemba was a great use of resources. From forming an all-star girls' volleyball team to having a Parent Teacher Association that won't quit, your school is off to the races.

Students in Atsemba are thriving in their new school and, because of you, this six month old school is already showing signs of success and sustainability.

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After the past school year ended, Atsemba Grade 5-8 Community School Principal Berhe took a summer to rest, reflect and prepare for the future. We caught up with him to talk about the new possibilities he is creating for this school year.

Principal Berhe with his students on the last day of school before summer.

Atsemba's Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is an essential part of steering the school into the future along a successful and sustainable course. Six of the 11 PTA members participated in imagine1day's PTA Training in 2010 and honed their skills in financial record keeping, Income Generation Activities (IGA) development, sustainability, increasing enrollment in their school, and mobilizing the community.

We caught up with Atsemba PTA member and school Vice Principal, Berhe Khasay, and found out why Atsemba's PTA is an essential ingredient for making the school a success:

Our school is a great school. It is great because there are many different people working to make it a success. The PTA in Atsemba is active because we believe that the school benefits the entire community so members from the whole community must participate and contribute. The teachers are responsible for teaching and the students are responsible for learning. The energetic PTA can take on many tasks and responsibilities to make the school successful without distracting the teachers and students from their primary responsibilities.

Atsemba's PTA is largely responsible for keeping students organized and inspired to care for the school’s seedlings.

Here's a snapshot of the Atsemba PTA's recent accomplishments that have set a solid foundation for the PTA to strive after the goals they have set for the coming year:

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On the last day of school, students hung around the school's courtyard, soaking in their last few moments of academia before embarking on two months of summer holidays. Students clutched small yellow cards, their annual grade report. Here is the Atsemba Grade 5-8 School Student Grade Report for their first six months in action:

Click image to enlarge.

For Gebre, a 12-year-old Grade 5 student at Atsemba, going to school is the most important thing in his life. While his parents think education is unnecessary, Gebre’s older brother has set an example for his younger sibling by entering Grade 12 this year. Meet this extraordinary young man, Atsemba's Face of the Future.

i1d: Gebre, tell us about your family.

G: I live with my mother and father and I have three sisters and three brothers. I am the third oldest child in our family. My parents do not like that we go to school but four of us are currently going to school. My older brother will be in Grade 12 this year, I will be in Grade 6 and my two younger sisters will be in Grade 4.

i1d: Why do your parents not support you going to school?

G: I think it is because parents did not go to school so they do not understand the value of learning. They have been farmers their entire lives so they think that farming is more important than going to school.

i1d: Why do you think school is important?

G: From what I see, education moves you from dark to light. Our country is very dependent on other people. Education will help us become independent. Educating people brings change to their lives. The more people are educated, the fewer times they will get sick and have to go to the hospital. The more people are educated, the better practices they can use on their farms or in their businesses and the more money they will make.

i1d: What is your vision for your life?

G: I would like to live in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia's capital) and have a job in finance, managing money for a large company. I want to be a part of the economic development of Ethiopia.

One of the many programs that imagine1day provides to Atsemba is Creative Child Writing. With 96.55% of its students regularly participating in the program, hundreds of short stories and poems are being written at the school. Meet Berhe Hagos, Atsemba's 13-year-old, Grade 5 wordsmith:

"My poem is about early marriage and how it has a negative influence on the spread of HIV/AIDS. I wrote this because I see this problem in my own community and even some of my friends are facing this issue. When I was in Grade 4, I wanted to be a pilot but then I started to write. Now I know that I want to be a writer because it helps me explain what I see and experience." - Berhe

Weaving wonderful words, Berhe provokes pondering from his captivated congregation of poetry patrons.

"Poems like this are important because of two reasons. First, because they explain the way things are here today. Our lifestyle will change over time but I think it is important to remember how things were today. Second, I think that poems like this express the feelings and experiences of many people, not just me. I think it is good for people to know that they are not the only people who think about something in this way or feel these emotions." - Berhe

One of the best measures of quality education is the students' transfer of knowledge from the classroom to the home. Four students from Atsemba's Grade 6 class share lessons that they thought were worth bringing home with them.

Lemlem, Mebrahaten, Hafte and Birhanu in their classroom that you built.

"My brother and I taught our family about personal hygiene. There are simple things that we can do at home that will keep our family healthier - like washing our hands before we eat and after we go to the latrine." - Lemlem

"After the latrine was built at our school I showed my family how to build a proper latrine at our house. I also learned that it is important for us to keep the animals separate from the people in our home. This helps to prevent us from getting sick." - Mebrahaten

"Our teachers taught us about the different ways our school makes money, like raising oxen and harvesting cereals. The teachers told us that we should share these ideas with our families so that we can improve our own household's income." - Hafte

"When I was at school, I learned how to prevent HIV/AIDS. I taught my family about it and now everyone in my family is aware of how to protect ourselves from this disease." - Birhanu

Quality education is when students are able to practically apply lessons learned in the classroom to their everyday lives.

Click here to listen to two of Atsemba's students explain the ways that they have shared what they learned at school with their families and friends.

It has been an extraordinary six months of growth, learning and fun for Atsemba. Thank you for your generous support in bringing complete quality primary education to Atsemba. We couldn't have done it without you.

This past summer marked the first of many when Atsemba's students will look forward with eager anticipation to returning to a comfortable, well-equipped school every September.  We are excited to continue supporting Atsemba Grade 5-8 Community School as it discovers its true potential for educating the future leaders of Ethiopia.

From Atsemba with Love,

The imagine1day team

"From what I see, education moves you from dark to light. Our country is very dependent on other people. Education will help us become independent." - Gebre, Grade 5 student at Atsemba Grade 5-8 Community School