The Inspiring Teachers of Blessed Hope

By Clair Williams

“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively”

- Bob Marley

Bob Marley’s quote has never been more applicable in my mind, than what I witnessed at Blessed Hope Champions Academy yesterday. Our second and final day at Blessed Hope was filled with intriguing dialogue with young students whose big ambitions and goals for the D.R.E.A.M.S plans are giving them hope, watching the girls and boys football (soccer) teams practice, and an hour or so being a fly on the wall during morning classroom instruction. Though yesterday was filled with gratitude and inspiring interpersonal communications, the absolute highlight for me was watching the teachers at Blessed Hope educate and excite their students. There are many reasons why those teachers stand out in my mind as omnipotent like beings, working to better the lives children.

First, the teachers at Blessed Hope stay there all year except on holidays which in itself shows a level of dedication to the children and program that is unparalleled.

Second, the teachers at Blessed Hope are often working off of one textbook wherein they become skilled artists who re-create diagrams found in the book on big pieces of paper to use as educational tools put up on the walls of the classroom.

Third, the teachers of Blessed Hope are true beacons of education who strive to engage every child in the room from calling on them to answer a question, to writing the answer on the board. My favorite moment came when one child was asked to write the answer “savannah grasslands” on the board. When she was done writing she returned to her seat amongst mumblings of laughter from her peers. The teacher then asked if it was correct, and many shook their heads. She had realized her spelling mistake of savannah for savananah, and quickly erased her mistake. The best part of the whole interaction was that neither the teacher or classroom peers laughed with embarrassment in mind, they were laughing with her, poking fun at her small mistake. This showed me the large amount of respect not only the children have for each other, but that the teacher has for the children because he knew the word had been spelled wrong, but gave the student a second chance to laugh it off, and correct the mistake.

Those three inspiring attributes of the teachers and classroom dynamic at Blessed Hope taught me that education is much simpler than we’d like to think. If you foster excitement about the topic, encourage reciprocated respect, and continually engage each child, you will inevitably end up with a classroom full of youth ready to take on the world. The teachers and classroom dynamic at Blessed Hope provided me an awe inspiring new found passion to educate the next generation of adults in this world.