Ghana project brings possibilities for future
Sawyer Auer
Ms. Jellison’s biology class communicates with Ghanaian students and hopes to visit them someday.
w science classes at Vashon High School to prepare her to teach science in Ghana through the Peace Corps. She is currently teaching there and has served as a connection to another part of the world for a group of VHS sophomores.
Biology teacher Elisabeth Jellison started the Ghana project this school year as a way for some of her students to learn about people their own age in a completely different part of the world. The focus included, but was not limited, to science.
“The goal was to open people’s minds to what is happening in the rest of the world, not only in science, but in science teaching as well and also in life in general,” said Jellison.
Writing letters to the students in Ghana was offered as a final project for Jellison’s sophomore biology classes. Many students seized the rare opportunity to interact with people their own age who live in a very different culture. They are even hoping to continue communicating with the students in Ghana after the science class is over. These students wanted to learn about Ghanaian life and find out what they think of our culture and society.
Jellison’s students wrote letters to the Ghanaian students and received responses in which the students wrote about their daily life, school, sports and some drew pictures. They also requested that the Vashon students visit and bring materials such as microscopes, computers, and chemicals, of which they have hardly any.
