My passion for teaching

 

I am a teacher by choice. Throughout my childhood, I used to listen to the news whenever I had a chance. Most coverages about Africa indicated a continent in trouble. I decided that I needed to contribute to changing this. Then, I had no idea what I was committing to and this led me to be the principal at Nova Pioneer Boys’ Secondary School – Eldoret

It wasn’t until when I was  in Form Two while listening to a motivational speech, where one of my teachers shared the quote; ‘if you want to change a nation, then the way to do that is through improving the quality of education of its people.’ This is what I needed to make up my mind to land on teaching as a career path. This is a choice that I made while young and vowed to pursue it.

When I was in high school, my teacher would task me with remediation as a group leader. All those students in my group would fully grasp the work assigned to me. I realized then that I can teach somebody. 

Before joining the university, I had a choice to make and I asked my parents to guide me on a career choice. However, my father told me that the best advice he would give is that I needed to decide for myself and choose something that I enjoy doing and is easy for me to do. 

I believe that Africa can and will take its rightful place in the competitive global economic arena if we prepare the current generation with the right mindset. I am a Pan Africanist because I believe in the African century.

 

Memorable moments

 

I’m a firm believer in building leaders. One of my students who had just joined the university as an undergraduate was seeking the position of the vice president of the student union and called me to ask for my advice. I told her to go for it. 

She eventually won the seat and made history. It was the first time a first-year student was elected for the second senior-most role of the student governing council. From that time, I have lost track of the number of my students who have served in student councils in both local and international universities. 

Another similar occurrence was when I was in the classroom when the KCSE national results were released in 2014, and I got a ring from one of my students thanking me for changing her life. I got confused. She explained that finally, her talent had an opportunity to thrive. She was a struggling student who we had to tailor teaching approaches to enable her to learn.

She got superior grades in the national examination which enabled her to pursue a career at a college which offers an opportunity for her to explore her talent.  

 

A day in the life of the Nova Pioneer Boys Eldoret campus  Principal

 

I consider myself lucky to be residing within the school compound. I wake up at 5:30 am and get ready. By 6:00 am, I join the young Novaneers for their morning preps and transition with them to the morning tea and Baraza. 

I get the privilege of listening to the young Novaneer leaders as they encourage each other. Eventually, the opportunity to address them which normally assumes the form of a motivational speech to start their day. The end of the Baraza gives way to the first lesson. I take a morning school walkthrough joined by the deans to ensure a good start to the day. I believe that ‘things don’t just go right, they must start right’. I settle back into the office to get some desk time responding to emails. A typical day is a swing between lesson observation, holding feedback meetings with teammates, coaching teachers, and attending other administrative meetings and duties. 

My day ends on a high note in the field with the students having fun playing various games- I play table tennis and badminton. During club days, I get to meet students as they interact through club activities. Even now, given virtual learning, I get to join some clubs like Model United, French and learn how they are progressing, as it is also important that they get to know their principal.

 

People who have influenced my journey

 

Former managing director of Nova pioneer Kenya, Danae Pauli, held my hand and believed in me at a time when I’d little faith in myself. She kept on pointing me to these great people and resource materials I would tap into for my growth in competency and culture.  

Craig Kielburger, a Canadian philanthropist and founder of We Charity. Craig taught me the value of following your heart even when the odds are not to your favor.  

Karren Okari is a lady who held my hand through high school. She took her time to nurture my leadership by giving me a chance to take risks. She eventually gave me a chance to start the Margaret Okari foundation right after my graduation that was an eye-opener and marked the journey to my education leadership

 

Mr. Meraba outside the classroom

 

I am a father of three and enjoy family company whenever I’m not at work. Seeing my two daughters and son grow has been rewarding with lessons on youth that impact my role. 

I also like reading books on leadership and motivation. On average, I read about one book a week when not very engaged. Motivating youth and keeping fit by regular long walks are other things I enjoy doing. 

 

Powering through challenges

 

The current trends with Covid 19 resulting in the loss of substantive on-campus  learning time and the uncertainty about schools re-opening have impacted the school community in ways I had not imagined. My Leading through tough times has been tested more now than ever before. However, Nova Pioneer has a great culture, and when the entire school community lives to the ideals of our culture principles, great things happen. I see growth every day. 

 

My hope for my students

Being the found principal at Nova Pioneer Boys’ School, Eldoret, I have so much hope and aspirations for my students. 

I hope they will go-ahead to pursue careers of their choice, rising to leadership. Others will pursue their talents or business. They will ideate and question every knowledge they gain. Eventually, they will graduate to offer service to humanity. They will do this by harnessing their talent, careers, or business ideas. They will serve the African continent and the world and will be true leaders, Innovators, and job creators. Serving at a time when the call to think on their feet will pay off will propel them to greater heights in transforming the world.

Our six culture principles have been at the forefront of building this great community through a strong and positive culture since inception. Our culture principles which include Joy of Learning, Greater Together, Servant Leadership, Always Growing, Solutions First and High Expectations are our guiding values when it comes to character development in our students. The culture principles also play a role in unifying the community across all our schools including Nova Pioneer Eldoret which is also our newest campus in Kenya!

 

Importance of community contemplation

 

Developing a sense of community has been paramount in creating opportunities for us to connect with our growing school community. At the end of every term, we all take time to reflect. Community contemplation is our end of term reflection where we all take a step back to interact and outline the roles the culture principles and the impact it has had on our lives. 

The Nova Pioneer Eldoret community that comprises parents, students and the school team took their time to reflect on one of our greatest culture principles and what it truly means to live it out in their daily lives. What a better way to do this than connecting to learn and grow from each other, both young and old!

Through community contemplation we’ve received the support of our parents, interacted more with our students and shared experiences together. Having this open bond is what has helped us to build a valuable relationship with our parents and thus given us a deeper sense of belonging. Through this, we’ve created a safe space to share knowledge from each other and this has influenced how we coexist together at Nova Pioneer Eldoret.

 

Solutions First within the community

 

Wendell Pierce stated that, “The role of culture is that it’s the form through which we as a society reflect on who we are, where we’ve been and where we hope to be.” The exciting interaction that virtually connected our parents, students and school team was such an enlightening experience that allowed us to contemplate on our culture principle of Solutions First.

Solutions First which is a personal favourite encourages us to be solutions seekers when we encounter problems. This principle challenges everyone to think critically and creatively on how to solve a problem. It encourages no to allow ourselves to be part of the problem but rather the solution. Through this, we are motivated to not concentrate on the problems around us but rather inspired to look for other alternatives.

It was lovely hearing our parent’s contribution to this discussion. They pointed out the need to shift to a positive mindset in order to see the opportunities around us. At a time where there’s so much uncertainty and the need to quickly shift mindsets, this was an exciting moment to hear of some of the ways in which they have quickly had to adjust in order to survive.

Samuel Birech, the Nova Pioneer Eldoret Boys Secondary school president spiked the need to work as a team since a problem shared is often a problem half-solved and eventually has homegrown solutions to problems.

As Martha Tubei our Nova Pioneer Eldoret Girls Secondary school leader often says, “without a culture, a society is lost.” This was truly an educative session. 

 

Join us

 

Interested in joining the Nova Pioneer Eldoret community? Feel free to contact Sheilla via admissions.ke@novapioneer.com or 0703421670. We look forward to you, yes, you being in touch.  🙂

Behind every great school is a team of passionate educators leading it forward and most times, we rarely get the opportunity to hear from these profound individuals who ensure that our students receive adequate support while in school. We always aim to provide a platform for our prospective families to interact with our learning team as they prepare to join us in the new year and one of them being a virtual meet and greet with our Eldoret principals.

On Saturday, 25th July 2020, the Nova Pioneer Secondary -Eldoret campus hosted its first ever virtual school leader meet & greet. The session gave prospective families an opportunity to learn more about Nova Pioneer’s unique learning environment through its founding school leaders. This is an annual event that is hosted across all our campuses for our prospective parents to interact with our learning team and some of our current students.

The session was graced by Andrew Meraba who leads the Nova Pioneer Boys Secondary – Eldoret and has decades of teaching experience in various capacities and also Martha Tubei who leads the Nova Pioneer Girls Secondary – Eldoret. She has over 29 years years of experience teaching at different capacities within Kenya. They’ve both been part of the Nova Pioneer Eldoret community ever since its inception in January 2020. 

During the virtual meet and greet, they highlighted some of the ways we collaborate with families in shaping Africa through innovation and leadership and how we are preparing our students for the new normal by shifting mindsets. 

Click on the link below to watch the complete recording.

 

Contact Us

 

Have any questions about the Eldoret campus? Feel free to contact Sheilla via 0703421670 or send as an email on admissions.ke@novapioneer.com

Nova Pioneer broke ground in Eldoret in July. The new campus will host a Girls’ High School and a Boys’ High School.

Press Release: Speaking at the event, Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago welcomed the investment in the county, committing the support of the county government to the project.

“As a nation and county, we have been lagging behind in terms of innovation, to the extent that we seem not to understand the resources we have at our disposal. We believe Nova Pioneer Schools is going to be that catalyst that we need in this century to enable us to realize the enormous resources we have within our boundaries and how to utilize the same” added Governor Mandago.

Nova Pioneer East Africa Managing Director, K. Danae Pauli noted that the move was informed by the rising need for world-class education to compete in today’s world, thanks to the technology that has made it a global village.

”We are a Pan-African network because we believe that change that will make a difference in the continent goes beyond a single school. By connecting our students across our network and the world beyond through our international standard education adopting the Kenyan curriculum, we will make the necessary difference in our students’ lives” added Pauli.

Above: Our Director, Mr. Khaemba, Managing Director Ms. K. Danae Pauli, LAPTRUST CEO and MD Hosea Kili, Governor of Uasin Gishu county Hon. Jackson Mandago and other stakeholders during the groundbreaking ceremony in July.

On his part, LAPTRUST CEO and MD Hosea Kili noted that the institution is indeed a welcome move in Eldoret following the establishment of the first Nova Pioneer School in Tatu City.

LAPTRUST, through the partnership, will enhance returns for its members and continue to ensure a healthy funding level for sustainability for the fund. The organisation will own the land and the buildings accordingly.

Located near Eldoret town, the full-boarding secondary schools will be developed separately across 20 acres of land. The facilities will include modern classrooms set-up with technology that enhances learning, boarding facilities as well as grounds for sports and club’s activities.

The partnership between Nova Pioneer and LAPTRUST ensures that the school focuses its resources on its core strength; delivering world-class education to transform the lives of all students across its network.

Nova Pioneer’s current schools have had a rapid impact. The high school students have won business competitions against university students and developed software applications launched on the Google App store as well as featured strongly in innovation competitions such as Innovate Kenya organized by GM in where their students emerged as some of the finalists in the country, among other major early achievements.

In the months gearing up toward the start of the 2020 school year, Nova Pioneer will be conducting various open days in 2019 to give parents and students a chance to learn more about how to apply for enrolment.

Article published by Capital News