August 7, 2017

This year, our Full Circle Program focused on conducting an inter-school competition at the secondary school level in Arusha. Last year, TFFT’s inter-school competition was conducted in Meru District with primary school students only. The approach this year was to involve government secondary schools.

This competition was for mathematics, science and essay writing with the following objectives:

1. Stimulate enthusiasm and love for Mathematics and Science
2. Provide students with an engaging and challenging experience
3. Motivate rigorous instruction in math and science, as well as writing skills
4. Encourage teachers to teach for mastery of topics as well as practical applications of mathematic and scientific concepts in their classes
5. Develop among students the joy and thrill of meeting challenges as well as build their confidence in handling pressure
6. Provide feedback to schools and teachers on mastery of topics and gaps in understanding of concepts by students

This competition was opened to students from Form 1 through Form 4, located in Arusha City. 150 students from 25 schools participated. Each participating school was to send 1 contestant for essay writing in English, 1 contestant for essay writing in Kiswahili, and 4 students who would make up a team to compete for the Science and Math’s competition. Girls were highly encouraged to participate.

There were two rounds of competition for the math and science contest. The first round was an elimination round where participants took a written test. The test was scored, and the top 10 students were selected to seat for the second round and final round of the competition. For many students, this was the first time they had the opportunity to participate in a competition with so many peers from other schools. After first round, I asked many of the participants what they thought their chance of winning the competition was. They said they were not sure, as they thought they might be the best in their own school but they didn’t know how they would compare to students from other schools.

The winners from each of the 3 contests have been selected and are awaiting their awards. A girl won the science competition, three boys won the math competition, and four girls won for the English and Kiswahili essay writing competition. The awards ceremony will take place at the schools of each of the winners, where we will announce the winner and present their prize in front of the student body with the goal of motivating the teachers and students alike. Handing out the awards will take place in the third week of August. Prizes and certificates of recognition would be awarded to the winners, their teacher-coaches, and schools, and I will share about it in my next blog. I also plan to interview some of the winners to share what they think about the inter-school competition and awarding! Stay tuned.