How East Africa Joined Our Team & Family

Posted on February 17, 2012 by KIPP Staff

By Ali Nagle, 5th Grade Reading Teacher, TEAM Academy

For most, February in the northeast is synonymous with heavy coats, slushy snow, bitter winds and hoping the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow. But for me, February is a month of frenzied preparation for another trip to East Africa. For the past five years, I have been traveling to both Kenya and Rwanda growing TEAM School’s international social justice program, TEAM in Africa. In the spring of my first year working at TEAM Academy, a KIPP School in Newark, my students and I watched a documentary about the opening of Oprah’s school in South Africa. As the film ended and the lights flicked on, a few of my eighth grade students raised their hands and asked, “Why can’t we do that?”

“Do what?”

“Open a school…help kids in Africa who don’t have any other options, someone who doesn’t have as much as we do.”

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Posted in Educators Who Make a Difference, School Happenings

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From the Court to the Classroom

Posted on February 7, 2012 by KIPP Staff

By Michael Horne, Miles Family Fellow, KIPP Dallas-Fort Worth

I am a Boston Celtics fan. Yes, I live in Dallas. But prior to moving to Dallas, I lived in Boston for five years and for many Bostonians, supporting the Celtics is as much a rite of passage as it is a hobby. Seventeen championships, luminaries of the likes of the indomitable Bill Russell…the Boston Celtics have firmly established their presence in the pantheon of sports dynasties.  But beyond the Celtics’ glitz and glamour, my admiration of the Celtics has less to do with the championships they have achieved, but the reason why and the way they have become successful; particularly as in recent times they have succeeded where many teams have faltered.

In 2007, Doc Rivers, coach of the Boston Celtics, was faced with an extraordinary opportunity. On his roster were three premier basketball players—forwards Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, and shooting guard Ray Allen. These three players were dominant in their own rite, destined for the Hall of Fame. Yet, despite their sports acumen, prior to coming together as Celtics, each player was unable to win a NBA championship. And therein lies the challenge. Basketball is a team sport—a domain where the dynamics of winning (and losing) is predicated less on individual competencies than on the meticulous collaboration of five players who work to enhance their collective abilities.

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Posted in Educators Who Make a Difference

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Stepping To Make A Difference

Posted on January 27, 2012 by KIPP Staff

By Carlisha Williams, Math Teacher & “Lady K Steppers” Instructor, KIPP Tulsa

At KIPP Tulsa, we step in celebration of our past, present, and future. Many marvel at the skill and talent of steppers, but have yet to recognize its rich connection to African and African-American history. 


The video was taken at the Martin Luther King Drum Major for Peace Event, held at Booker T. Washington High School on Monday, January 16th, 2012 (MLK Day).

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Posted in School Happenings

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How to Teach in Quadrant I

Posted on January 25, 2012 by KIPP Staff

By Ben Speicher, School Leader, KIPP Philadelphia Elementary Academy

When I was a Fisher Fellow spending a year visiting, observing, talking, traveling, and planning in preparation to open a KIPP elementary school in Philadelphia, friends who were familiar with KIPP would ask me what certain elements of KIPP’s model look like with 5-year olds. They had enough prior knowledge to know about some of the common behavior management systems used at many KIPP middle schools, like students earning a “paycheck” each week that monetizes all the good and bad choices they made that week. They might also have heard about “the porch” or “the bench” or other systems where middle school students lose privileges like sitting with their friends at lunch or sitting at their normal seat in class when they repetitively make poor choices.

While these systems work for our students in middle school, people often asked this question with an understandable amount of skepticism as they struggled to see how this would work with early elementary students.

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Vote for Education. Vote for KIPP!

Posted on January 18, 2012 by KIPP Staff

In partnership with Causes.com, AT&T has launched The $80K Vote For Education to raise awareness and support for three excellent education nonprofits, including KIPP! AT&T will donate $80,000 across the three participating charities, and the organization with the most votes through February 14th will earn $50,000! The 2nd and 3rd-place finishers will receive prizes of $20,000 and $10,000 respectively.

How can you support KIPP?

  1. Vote for KIPP today! Click here to vote. It takes just seconds to support KIPP.
  2. Come back and vote again. You may vote once per day until the contest ends February 14th, 2012.
  3. Email, share, and invite. Email this post to your friends and family, share it through Facebook and Twitter, and invite your network to vote!

Thank you in advance for your help in continuing to share the story of KIPP!

Posted in KIPP Supporters & Believers