JBFC New Faces: Alyssa Doty

Editor's Note: JBFC recently hired Alyssa Doty as the Office Manager in Tulsa, Ok. In her blog, she explains why this is a "perfect job" for a former missionary kid.



As the daughter of missionaries I was fortunate to spend most of my childhood in Venezuela. This opportunity not only made it possible for me to easily learn a second language, it also instilled in me a love for travel and for learning about other cultures. When I returned to the U.S. for college my plan was to finish my degree and then to go live “overseas” again.



Life, as usually happens, took a bit of a different turn than I expected and I have been living for the past five years in Tulsa, OK (which – honestly - is a very different culture to me). Through the years I have had the opportunity to work for a number of great organizations, such as the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club, and to use my Spanish skills in a program with Latina women to help reduce diabetes through lifestyle changes. I have also been able to travel to different parts of the world such as Israel, Egypt, and last summer to Nicaragua.



Through all of this I have been on the look-out for the “perfect” job: one where I could continue to live in Tulsa but work for an organization that impacts and makes a difference in the global community. When a friend told me about the job opening at JBFC I was elated (I’m pretty sure I e-mailed Ashli that very afternoon). The more I learned about JBFC the more it seemed like a perfect fit for me. Its focus on sustainability, the Tanzania community involvement, and the multi-pronged approach to reduce poverty are important aspects for an organization I work for. The focus on empowering girls was also a selling point for me as a firm believer in creating equal opportunities for girls and boys.


Evidently the JBFC staff thought I would be a good fit, too, (or else there were no other applicants) and I began work as JBFC’s Office Manager two weeks ago. I am excited to join the JBFC family on this journey and to play my part as one of the U.S. staff. The only thing that makes me sad is that it will be a while before I get a chance to visit Tanzania and meet the girls. In the meantime I will get to know them through their pictures and letters I send to sponsors, the stories volunteers bring back, and through the beautiful pictures on the blog and web page. I will work on my Swahili and read all the books I can on Tanzania. I am looking forward to getting to know all of the U.S. supporters who make it possible for the vision of JBFC to continue. I’m sure you will be hearing from me at some point. Please feel free to email me or call me or come grab a cup of coffee with me and we can practice our Swahili together.

Back to School: 5 Years of Making the Grade

Today is Joseph and Mary School’s first day of classes for the 2015 school year.

Students began flowing in at 8 o’clock sharp for morning assembly. They gathered in their royal blue shirts in courtyard of the primary and secondary schools to sing the national anthem in unison. Afterwards they met their teachers, got their desks ready, and then headed to breakfast in the dining hall (one of the two meals provided by JBFC to all students to prepare them for a productive day of learning).


Today is also special because it is the 5th anniversary of the opening of the Joseph and Mary schools. (To read more about why JBFC's school is called Joseph & Mary, click here)

When we opened our doors in January of 2010, I never dreamed our school would come so far this quickly. This time five years ago, we opened our doors with just 60 kids. But we were soon overwhelmed by the demand for quality education in our area and we were soon filling 100 seats and ended the year with twice that.

I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised by the response to Joseph & Mary. Our neat U-shaped block of classrooms, stacked with desks and chairs, filled with books and learning toys, each headed by a certified teacher, was a far cry from the local government school just a few hundred yards away. That school was the reason we were determined to open Joseph & Mary in the first place. At the time, it had 900 students and three teachers. Hundreds of kids crammed shoulder to shoulder in classes with no learning materials and, often, no adult supervision in sight.

 And the difference in clear not just in appearance, but in academics. Our students consistently outperform surrounding schools (government schools and other private ones). We’ve had our struggles and in the beginning the learning curve was steep, for our students and for JBFC, as an organization. But we prove day in and day out that good teachers, access to quality tools, and hard work pays off.

 

In 2010, none of our students spoke a word of English, and now they can communicate in English as a second language. Joseph and Mary has been ranked in the top 3.5% of schools in the entire country. 100% of our students have passed the Tanzania national exams every year, since we opened. That’s truly something, when you consider most of Tanzanian students fail the national exam every yea

 

While we’ve accomplished a lot in the last four years, but we are, by no means, slowing down. We want our schools to continue to succeed, so we have set our sights on these goals to make sure Joseph & Mary students thrive.

 

Education Goals for 2015:

 

• Begin a character education program.
• Strengthen partnerships with local schools.
• Create more extra-curricular clubs (an idea that makes us unique in Tanzania – click here for more on the clubs offered last year.)
• Give all secondary students weekly access to eReaders.
• Integrate Khan Academy and other internet-based educational resources utilizing tablets for 5th through Form 4 (11th Grade).
• Improve literacy by implementing 45 minutes of silent reading at the end of each school day.
• Leverage international school partnerships to help improve Joseph & Mary Teacher development.

 

JBFC is lucky and grateful to have some wonderful school partners throughout the U.S. They have helped tremendously with teacher development. While professional development is expected and often required for American teachers, it’s a little harder to come by in rural Tanzania. Thanks to our partners, our teachers are learning new teaching methods and strategies and are regularly incorporating them into the classroom.

 

I especially want to recognize Robbin Hawkins and Kim Ferguson from Sarah Lawrence University in Bronxville, NY, who helped run an entire week of teacher development last week. These two women were wonderful additions to our teacher training, providing unique insight for our staff members. We can’t thank them enough for sharing their time and talents. We hope we can continue to grow this kind of support from our international partners in 2015.

 

While I’m excited and thrilled to begin another year at Joseph & Mary, this one is a little bittersweet. Because this year, we will say goodbye to our first graduating class!

I cannot believe that these students are ready to graduate and go out into the world. These students who started secondary school in my living room, because we had no secondary school at the time, will now be heading off to higher education, training programs, and work. I am so proud of these students. According to the UN only 1 in 4 Tanzanian students is even attending secondary school, let alone graduating. I can’t wait to see what these bright young men and women do with their education.

 

We are hoping to prepare all of our students to be not only good students, but also good citizens of the world. We especially hope to prepare our graduating seniors to go out into the world as intelligent and independent individuals with strong JBFC values and that they will share what they have learned with others.

 

 

 

 

Blogger Chris Gates is JBFC's Founder & CEO.