Skip to main content

In Support of Education in Ethiopia

Yesterday, in celebration of Saint David's Founders' Day, I told in chapel the story of the school’s founding--February 5, 1951--by ten audacious families. I then shared with the boys our school’s 60th Anniversary Founders' Day initiatives: to do for others what our founders did for us. Nine years into these initiatives, Horizons at Saint David’s and the Ethiopia Project have matured and blossomed. The school in Kalina, Ethiopia, opened in 2014. Ranging from pre-primary to Grade 8, it now has approximately 430 elementary age boys and girls, close to the size of Saint David's.

This coming Monday, I’ll be flying our Student Council President, Finn H., along with his father, to Ethiopia. Finn will represent the boys of Saint David’s and will officially open our second school, in Ala'sa. While there, we will also visit Saint David’s Kalina School. Both Ala'sa and Kalina are small rural communities in the northern province of Tigray.

The following is an excerpt from Finn’s portion of yesterday's chapel:

“Good morning! I can remember sitting where you’re sitting now....I remember Dr. O’Halloran showing us pictures of his trip to Kalina the summer that the school opened. It had never registered that we sponsored an entire school! He then revealed that he was accompanied by three past student council presidents. It was at that moment I realized that I wanted to run for student council and be student council president so I could, in addition to representing my fellow students, possibly meet the boys and girls.

The official opening of the Saint David's Kalina School, June 2014

“On Halloween, Dr. O’Halloran called me to his office. 'I have a job for you, if you’re up for it,' he said. 'It involves international travel.' I was intrigued, to say the least. 'I got the idea when you talked about Ethiopia in your student council speech,' he added. My jaw literally dropped. I was overjoyed. I can’t say how grateful I am for this opportunity. I am incredibly excited for next week. But once I get back, we have work to do.

“Currently, the school in Kalina has a well but the school in Ala'sa does not... Building one requires a large drill to get down to the water beneath the earth’s surface. I can’t imagine being at a school without water. That means no drinking water, no flushing toilets, no washing hands. Just think if Saint David’s didn’t have water and every time you wanted water you had to go back home to get it.

"We’ve done a lot to help the students in Ethiopia, but I think we can do more. I want us to build that well and I want us to raise all the money this spring. Building a well is not an easy feat and it isn’t cheap. This is the ninth year in Ethiopia, so Dr. O’Halloran, Mr. Ryan, and I would like you, but most importantly the boys and girls in Ala'sa need you to show support! The Student Council would like to make this the most successful year ever. We can only do that with your help.

“I cannot wait for my trip next week. I promise I’ll represent you well.”

Popular posts from this blog

The Wisdom Within - A Matter of Trust

The Teaching Boys Initiative (TBI) is a cornerstone of Saint David’s School’s strategic vision, aimed at developing a robust framework of evidence-based best practices in boys’ education. The initiative’s primary goal is to empower educators with the knowledge, skills, habits, and dispositions of reflective practitioners, enhancing their professional growth and the overall quality of teaching and learning for boys.  In TBI's new quarterly blog series, "The Wisdom Within," our faculty share stories that inform, inspire, and encourage reflective practice using evidence-based approaches in teaching and learning for boys.  The following inaugural entry, "A Matter of Trust," was written by reflective practitioner and Master Teacher Tom Ryan, who has been inspiring generations of Saint David's boys for more than 53 years. A MATTER OF TRUST …but, I digress. I cannot possibly begin any writing piece, and/or class, without some digression that, as I have said to my s...
Read more

Jack Mullin '12 : Reflections on a Mom's Love

The Chapel talk tradition at Saint David's provides faculty and alumni with the opportunity to share with our boys meaningful and inspiring personal stories: their experiences, lessons learned, challenges overcome. The annual Fifth Grade Mother-Son Chapel gathers our fifth-grade boys and their mothers or mother figures for a special shared pre-Mother's Day experience; a Chapel Talk by a young alumnus who reflects upon the role his mother has played in his life. This year, we welcomed former Student Council President Jack Mullin '12. Jack's family has deep roots with school. His older brother Patrick graduated in '08 and his dad, Terry, in 1973. Jack's talk centered on the impact both his alma mater and his mother, Immy, have had on his development into the man he is today. Below are excerpts that I would like to share: "My family's multi-generational lineage is a testament to the incredible sense of community Saint David’s fosters, and I too hope I have...
Read more

Strong Values

You can feel it in the air: the indescribable yet readily recognizable excitement of the start of a new school year - in our boys, teachers, families, administrators, and staff. Below, I share excerpts from my opening letter that speak to our 2024-25 school-wide theme, "Strong Values:" "To-morrow I cease to be a puppet, and I become a boy like you and all the other boys."* We teach boys. That’s what we do. And we want our boys to think for themselves. And we want that thinking to be rooted in and guided by “strong values”—our school-wide theme this year, found in the last line of the mission’s second paragraph. In keeping with the school’s classical tradition, these strong values are shaped at Saint David’s by the cardinal and theological virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and courage, along with faith, hope, and charity. To many Western philosophers, possession of these virtues makes a person good, happy, and thriving. Something we want for all of our sons. ...
Read more