Blog
Mahamadou Doumbia is a dedicated educator with over a decade of experience teaching biology in rural Mali. Mr . Doumbia has served in various village schools, and for the past six years, he’s been a pillar at Ross and Marilou Moser Middle School. His commitment and passion for education led to his appointment as the principal in 2022, a role that has deepened his connection to the village of Nieguekoro and its families.
Teachers and principals really set the tone for a school. That’s one of the reasons I love working with our teachers and principals — good leadership in the classrooms and the school overall means the kids can really learn and grow in our schools. That’s why I’m sad when we sometimes have to say goodbye to good principals, like principal Make Ezai Mounkoro of Sue Chung Chiu Middle School.We will miss Mr. Mounkoro and his steady leadership. But, when his replacement arrives in the village this fall we will be just as ready to help the new principal as we were to support Mr. Mounkoro. Anything for our students!
As we wrapped up one school year this June, I was already shifting gears to plan for next school year! As part of that planning, I think a lot about how to make the largest difference for our teachers and, through them, our students. One of my favorite campaigns I work on is our Intensive Teacher Training Campaign. One reason I like it so much: our teachers and principals love it!
Principals in Mali have a hard job and they are often literally hours away from any peers. These principals face struggles with students, parents, and bureaucracy and can often feel quite alone. The principals at the 28 Mali Rising partner schools are no exception.
That’s why a few years ago we established the Principals’ WhatsApp group. This group uses a tool nearly everyone in Mali uses, WhatsApp, to allow our principals to know each other and share useful information and experiences.
Being a middle school principal is a hard job no matter where you are. But being one in Mali is particularly tough! Mali Rising principals are in remote places, far from their families or professional support. They manage young teachers and parents who are often unfamiliar with the education system. Many have classes with 100+ students in them. Sometimes, a principal needs a little support and maybe just a little fun when they face this reality day to day!
A Mali Rising donor wanted to find a way to give just that to our principals this year — an experience that would make them feel like someone saw just how hard they worked. So with that donor’s support we set up a year-end party for the principals. We gathered 19 principals at a national park outside of Bamako for a day of relaxing, good food, games, and awards. Read on to hear what one principal thought of the experience…
Each year Mali Rising honors three of our most outstanding teachers with an award. They are nominated by their principals, and a panel of teachers selects the best candidates for each award — most outstanding, most helpful, and most improved. Last month I was happy to deliver the award for Most Outstanding Teacher to a a very hard-working teacher, Mr. Chaka Diarra.
This month, we wrapped up our Intensive Teacher Trainings for the school year. These sessions allow us to provide about half of our teachers with two, tailor-made trainings over the year, along with 3 Teacher Peer Meetings. At our last meeting, I spoke with Amadou Doro, a math teacher, about the biggest new ideas he took away from his time in our Intensive Teacher Trainings. Here’s what he had to say…
As we start to get closer to the end of the school year, I’ve been talking with our teachers about the Chalkboard Art Contest. This is a chance for teachers to show off how they use the primary teaching tool in a Mali classroom — the chalkboard. Our teachers create beautiful maps, diagrams, and more to help students learn. I asked one of our teachers, Mr. Mariko, to share his thoughts on the contest and the value of chalkboard art.
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