Educate at-risk girls, end poverty cycle: Thailand

In a world where 2/3rds of illiterate adults are women, Dhammajarinee aims to break this cycle of gender inequality in education. Your compassion and support of the school is transforming this imbalance and taking women to unimaginable heights. STEM is now part of the curriculum for all grades and is here to stay.

Recent activities, with more photos below

Creativity Camp!

The elementary school students recently enjoyed a "Creativity Camp”. Through fun, creative games and group activities, they learned morality, and how to manage their emotions and solve problems independently. They also discovered how creativity can go hand in hand with morality and gained skills to increase creativity in everyday life.

On the International Day of Education, 24 January, Grade 12 students volunteered at the charity Ban Rong Charoen School, Ban Kha District, Ratchaburi Province. They led the Ban Rong Charoen students through fun learning activities, shared knowledge, and spread love. Impressively, the Dhammajarinee girls organized this volunteer camp entirely themselves, including designing all the activities. The event was an excellent opportunity for our students to develop planning skills, participate in leadership training, and culture a love of volunteering—all qualities that will prepare them for rewarding, successful lives.

The HighScope learning program has, for several years now, been used at Dhammajainee at the early childhood level. HighScope is a way of working with children based on the idea that children learn best from active learning experiences, which they plan and carryout themselves. The Faculty of Early Childhood Education University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce brought their 1st year university students and their faculty to study and observe Dhammajarinee School’s successful use of HighScope learning.

Dhammajarinee serves as a regional training center for HighScope learning. Dhammajarinee has also been chosen as a high school exam training center for students from other schools, enabling them to study Dhammajarinee’s teaching model on location. Dhammajarinee is providing an inspiration for the quality of teachers that all students in the field of education should strive for.

Continued Success of the MakeHerSpace

The MakeHerSpace has proven to be extremely useful for the school to expand access to STEM education. Students in grades 7–2 use the room for 1–1.5 hours every day after class, while an advanced group of 30 students in the STEM club work on creative projects every Thursday for two hours.

Dhammajarinee plans to move all the science classes for the junior high and high school to the MakeHerSpace so they can incorporate digital design and advanced fabrication skills into their lessons.

Continued English Progress

We are thrilled that the entire school is now learning English online with Solve Education, which utilizes a mini game format to engage and improve English language skills. Already in this month’s report, the students who have played 100 mini games or more are demonstrating an average 33% improvement across all areas of vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, and speaking.

Celebrating Sports Days

Sports Days in Thailand are celebrated for six days at the end of the calendar year. The Sports Days celebration commemorates the day when, in 1967 Thailand’s former King Bhumipol Adulyadej, together with his daughter Princess Ubol Ratana, won a gold medal in sailing.

Sports Days traditionally involve various activities and events that showcase the diversity and excellence of Thai sports including parades, marching bands, costumes, sports competitions to foster healthy competition and teamwork, and award ceremonies. The Sports Day celebration week was a highlight of the year for the students.

Have a taste of the excitement of the events in this Sports Day video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIxMRIw3XPM

Happy New Year 2024

The year began with a special New Year's Eve celebration that the school organized for all students.

Thanks to the gifts, special menus, and food items from teachers, parents, and many other adults, the students enjoyed a joyful start to the new year.

May this new year for you be one of happiness, prosperity, and radiant good health.

Happy New Year to you, Dhammajarinee’s dear supporter, who shares our common mission to provide free quality education to at-risk young women. Dhammajarinee is deeply grateful to you for continuing to provide a safe home and life-changing education to all the girls. You are enabling them to grow in their full inner and outer potential and you helped make 2023 a remarkable year of development. The achievements have been many.  Below we highlight some recent ones.

What’s going on in the new MakeHerSpace?

This delightful video gives a glimpse of the exciting transformation of a refurbished storage shed into a STEM makerspace, being called the “MakeHerSpace.” You will see how the students are fully using it to develop a very wide range of advanced technology and STEM skills. The makerspace was fully equipped and funded by a generous grant from SC Johnson and designed by Dr. Stuart Kohlhagen, who made this video for the girls’ and our enjoyment. The use of technology and coding to design and develop the toys and robots shown in the video are just the beginning. The students see the power of these 21st century skills for their own careers and contribution to society.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2tjGiFXCic

Inspired by the new MakeHerSpace, Microsoft donated 14 laptops for the room, which form the basis of the digital design lab where the students will learn 3D modeling and animation, graphic design, data manipulation, video and music editing and composition, coding, and app development. See below for images.

English Progress with Solve Education!

Since May of this year, DWS has been running Solve Education’s “Dawn of Civilization” English program for the primary school. The program is a game, which incorporates AI to help detect what lessons the learners have missed and forgotten so they can master key skills, including language, faster and more effectively. Students improved an average of 26% in vocabulary, grammar, and 21% in reading. Even more exciting is that the improvements rise with time spent playing the game; there was an average of 40% improvement for students playing 100 mini games or more.

In November, grades 7–12 began using Solve Education’s English program along with Voxy English. With all DWS using the Solve Education platform, we will have a standardized, robust reporting system for English language learning that can be utilized throughout the entire school.

Inauguration of Four-Story Multipurpose Building

Dhammajarinee’s new four-story multipurpose building, made possible through generous funding from two outstanding donors, will serve many needs of the school, including elementary and high school classrooms, a digital library, and a music room.

DWS joins hands with many universities

- Teachers from Khao Yoi Vocational College will instruct DWS students in a range of in-demand skills, including graphic design and presentation, video editing, installing computer operating systems, repairing computers, business and accounting, as well as pastry making and traditional Thai handicrafts

- University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce will train DWS teachers in the High Scope approach for kindergarten. This includes the principles of active learning, positive adult-child interactions, a child-friendly learning environment, a consistent daily routine, and team-based assessment.

- Panyapiwat Institute of Management (PIM) provided training for DWS teachers in a broad range of college-level courses including technology, engineering and robotics, innovative agricultural management, nursing, business English, and business Chinese. DWS upper level students can enroll in these courses and earn up to six units of college credits that can be applied to a university degree at PIM.

- Ratchaburi Polytechnic College teaches vocational skills to DWS students, including artificial intelligence, traditional Thai handicrafts, and beautician work.

- Through a partnership with the Institute for Researcher and Development in Teaching Profession for ASEAN at Khon Kaen University, DWS students learn mathematics according to the Open Approach. The Open Approach simultaneously fosters creative activities of the students as well as mathematical thinking in solving problems.

World of Difference Award

Dhammajarinees Director Acharn Yai has received The International Alliance for Women (TIAW) World of Difference Award under the Education category. This yearly, prestigious award recognizes extraordinary individuals worldwide who have contributed to the economic empowerment of women.

Thanking you in this video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e1nA1QzfoI

In this video, Sarah Bence, the new highly qualified Director of Development at Dhammajarinee wishes to thank all of Dhammajarinees donors for their generous support. Sarah brings an extensive working background in nonprofits and philanthropy—including the areas of human rights, social entrepreneurship, girls' equality, girls’ education, meditation and mental health, and homelessness.

From all of us at Dhammajarinee, we send our sincere gratitude and best wishes for the New Year!