Sustain a School for 200 Children in Rural Nigeria

Greetings from the Shining Light School in Ishahayi! 

 The Shining Light School follows the Nigerian School Calendar and that means the students completed their second school term on April 6th.This was just before Easter weekend and now the students are currenlty having a term-break. In Nigeria, the government recognizes both Christian and Muslim holidays and Eid-al-Ftar is coming up this weekend. After this holiday, the students will resume to start the third term of the 2022-2023 school year. 

 In the past weeks an Ecowatt solar engineer completed a service check for the school solar panels. Back in January the batteries of the solar panels were replaced, but every few months they need to be serviced. Also, the paint that was donated to the school was used to paint the builidng that houses teachers and boarding students. 

 We are excited to welcome the students back and for the daily school routine to begin! We wish you all blessings and joy and once again, thank you for the contributions that help the Shining Light School. We are grateful for all the support. 

This December Santa came early to the Shining Light School and that put so many smiles on the children's faces. We were able to deliver 180 backpacks to the students (one backpack for each student) and the backpacks were filled with goodies. Inside, each backpack had a lunchbox, notepad, a bar of soap, buscuits and lollipops. The happiness this gift brought the children was immense, and felt by all that were there. 

We were also able to give one bag of rice, a 1L bottle of oil, and a package of Knorr to each of the 14 teachers. This also brought smiles and happiness to the staff. The Christmas spirit was strongly felt at the Shining Light School and we are so thankful for all of those that donated throughout the year to our cause. Your donations and support really do help to brighten the life of a child! 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 

Hi everyone! 

Summer is near its end and many schools around the world are underway, or will soon begin! The Shining Light School will resume on Monday, September 5th and preparations have begun...

Last week one of our volunteers was able to drop off many donations that she collected. The donations included pens, notepads, printing paper, a laminating machine and coloring activites. There was also a donation of personal items for the older girls.

The organization is ordering the required text books for the students. We are also having bulletin boards made in order for the teachers to display the work of the students. The staff at the Shining Light School want to paint the school, so that the children are welcomed with a beautiful fresh start for the 2022-2023 school year. There's nothing like a fresh coat of paint! 

In June the teahers at the Shining Light School went to a teacher training that foucsed on Classroom Management and Curriuculm Delivery. The teachers are exctied to implement the skills they learned into the classroom. There is a plan for the directors of the training session to visit the school and observe how the teachers are applying the different strategies. This will most likely take place in October. 

We would like to thank all of our donors for the support given over the years that have helped the school grow. We wish all of the students and teachers a meaningful and prospersous 2022-2023 school year!

Happy Learning!

Our Year in Review 2017/2018

The students are wrapping up another successful school year at the Shining Light School.  This year, like the years in the past, has proven to be another busy year.  We have focused this school year on “Classroom Impact” to enable us to retain focus on the classroom amidst all of our other projects at the Shining Light School and Ife Oluwa.  We have provided classroom supplies such as white boards, markers, erasers, crayons, coloring pencils, and backpacks to each classroom at the Shining Light School and Ife Oluwa.  We have also been able to provide educational learning toys for our younger students to make learning fun!

Thank you to each and everyone of our volunteers and generous donors!  A complete listing of successes below:

-       Enjoyed ten (10) trips to the Shining Light School with our volunteers to assess, teach, clean, and play.

-       Provided uniforms for every student

-       Repaired roof and bathroom facilities

-       Purchased student tables & chairs for library

-       Made repairs to boat jetty to ensure safe arrival of our students by boat

-       Completed repairs to water damaged desks & chairs at Ife Oluwa due to flood

-       Delivered books to replace those destroyed in July flooding at Ife Oluwa

-       Completed repairs to teacher quarters

-       Completed repairs to stove and generator

-       Found a sponsor for 50 donated soccer balls and delivered them to very happy students & teachers

-       Continued scholarship for 3 students and Mercy Springs in SS2

-       Provided funding for 4 students (post JSS3) to attend local technical school

-       Hosted another successful Annual IBSF Silent Auction

-       Completed repairs to boat engine used on boat to transport some students to school

-       Delivered Christmas gifts to staff and students at Shining Light School & Ife Oluwa

-       Paid teacher salaries for 1 school year

-       Paid for 20kg beans & 20 kg rice for lunch program monthly for 1 school year

-       Paid cooking gas for 1 school year

-       Paid generator fuel for 1 school year

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT

The kids are back in the classroom after a very rainy summer break! While they were on holiday spending quality time with family and friends, the IBSF was hard at work planning for the upcoming 2017-18 school year!

Every year we select a special project to focus on, last year we jump-started the successful Sustainability Project, which included brand new Gardening and Sewing classes. The students and teachers at The Light School learned how to utilize the fertile (and sandy...) soil surrounding the beach school to grow fruits, vegetables, and tasty herbs that can be used for student lunches and meals for the boarding teachers. We were dazzled by the creativity the sewing lessons inspired, and the speed at which they flew through the basic techniques. By the end of the year the JSS3 graduates were prepared for their exams and armed with new skills that will be valuable as they continue their education and join the workforce.

This year we have created the Classroom Impact Project which will shine new light on the unfortunate gap between the current Nigerian education system and what is expected of modern day students. The two areas of interested will be Teacher Training and Advanced Classroom Supplies for Interactive Learning. The IBSF will facilitate access to advanced teacher training resources and digital tools, best practices, and leadership development to cultivate a collaborative teaching environment. Students will receive modern classroom supplies/materials, including new desks, books, and interactive learning tools, technology resource training, and the curriculum needed for enhanced English skills and critical thinking. The IBSF is confident the teachers and students of The Light School will gain renewed energy in the classroom thanks to this ambitious project!

In the past the IBSF has supported another local primary school located in the Lekki area of Lagos, Ife Oluwa. They occasionally request emergency and/or critically needed repairs and supplies. This summer they sustained significant flood damage to their classrooms and many supplies were lost. They asked us if we would be willing to purchase new textbooks before the students returned in the Fall, and of course we were happy to accommodate them! Our Facilities Director, MJ, went textbook shopping with a few of their teachers and returned with boxes of new books!

We hope you had a wonderful summer as well and we are sending a huge THANK YOU from Nigeria! All your support and encouragement makes these projects possible and we couldn't do this without you.

Cheers!

IBSF Board of Directors

Links:

• IBSF Website