FCL Sites Around the World: Ethiopia

Ethiopia: April 2016 Update

The One Planet School has gained notoriety among the top schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The school community unified to remember its vision at a Tenth Anniversary Commemoration on April 9, 2016.

One Planet staff at African Union

Parents, dignitaries and educators gathered at the continent’s most prestigious venue – the African Union building – to honor the occasion with discussions of the school’s vision and of its future. Student videos reminded the gathering of how far the children had come in acting out the mission of the school. Speeches reminded teachers, parents and students of the role they play in securing the future of the nation, with everyone in the “village” contributing to the nobility of the child.

Gail Amare

After an opening session with speeches by representatives of USAID, the Education Ministry, Full-Circle Learning International and One Planet School founders Gail and Zelalem Amare, parents attended caucuses to discuss continuing challenges such as home discipline and raising children in a media-enriched society.

One Planet - Zelalem (left) with staff after staff development

On the following Monday, the teachers gathered for a refresher course in Full-Circle Learning, to renew its commitment to character education and the potential of each child to serve as a light to the world.

One Planet - Zelalem Amare with PTA President

One Planet - Teresa L at African Union Building

One Planet - High School Students at 10th Anniversary Event

One Planet - Audience at 10th Anniversary Gathering

Ethiopia

Students from the One Planet learn to reach out across the planet to their international friends.

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First graders in the Givers class at the Full-Circle Learning Academy, in Los Angeles, became masters of recycling in 2008-2009. Their cans and bottles had a purpose, however. They bagged, sorted and counted, to learn math. They practiced map-making skills by drawing both their classroom, the path to the trash can outside, and maps to the recycling center down the street. Next they took a field trip to the center with their teacher, Mr. Mayfield. Finally, they made a book about the project for their new friends at The One Planet School, in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia. They voted to use their recycling money for trees or seeds for the Ethiopian school. The project was inspired by a beautiful book sent to them by the loving students at One Planet.

One Planet School has quickly become one of the finest schools in Addis. Its founders, Gail and Zelalem Amare, have small children of their own yet devote their time to making their budding school the best it can be. Welcoming college students to conduct a training in Full-Circle Learning was one example of their innovations to benefit education in their region. In 2008, the school hosted the practicum for two other schools in the area, including the School of the Nations. Now the school trains its own new teachers at the start of the school year. As 8 year-olds share their similarities and loving greetings with younger children in Los Angeles, appreciation of culture grows. “You are so sweet. I love you very much,” the Ethiopian students wrote. Children in America intently studied the faces of these new friends in the book and mouthed the words, “I love you too.”