Letters to Kenya

February 2019

Dr. Ashley and Ms. Laura-Ashlee!

After the magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Alaska on November 30th, STrEaM Academy teachers planned a wide range of lessons and activities designed to allow students to explore and process the event. In 6th grade Language Arts, Ms. Twiford’s students wrote letters which told their personal accounts and experiences. She was looking for an audience to receive these letters and started a conversation with Dr. Don Ashley, a Wayland Baptist University professor. Their collaboration would end up connecting and positively impacting students on separate continents, providing deep and valuable learning experiences. 

Dr. Ashley brings letters to Kenya

Dr. Ashley was planning a trip to Kenya in his role as director of Wayland’s degree program there when Ms. Twiford approached him about the earthquake letters. They discussed the possibility of students in Kenya reading letters written by STrEaM students, realizing the potential for a connection spanning two different worlds. Dr. Ashley volunteered to bring the letters to a local Kenyan school. On January 16th he hand delivered the letters to a standard-six class (US sixth grade) at Enkereri Primary School in Lolgorian, Kenya. This school is located in the Masai Tribal area near the Masai Mara National Reserve. The Reserve is home to lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants, zebra, wildebeest, and rhinoceros among many other species. The Masai tribe manage this area that is adjacent to Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. 

Students in Kenya were excited to hear from students in Alaska, and responded by writing letters back to STrEaM. In February, Dr. Ashley presented to Ms. Twiford’s class about the school and culture in Kenya. STrEaM students were fascinated to hear about children from another culture, in another country, living vastly different lives from theirs. Dr. Ashley showed students pictures and slides, along with Masais artifacts including a spear and shield. What began as an earthquake reflection exercise has grown into a pen-pal partnership across continents, as Ms. Twiford’s students are now writing responses back to the students at Enkerei School.