Past Conferences

WRITING WITH A DIFFERENCE, TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The 2009 Andover Bread Loaf International Conference
Nairobi, Kenya
April 23-26, 2009

“I have learned so much, interacted so much, I am bursting with energy!”

So wrote a local teacher who participated in the 2009 Andover Bread Loaf Conference held at Nairobi, Kenya this past April. “It was fantastic to have such a wide and international group of teachers together in one place!” said another. “I feel re-energized about my profession. Thank you.” reported a third. What was good about the workshop? “Getting to share experiences as teachers and discovering that we face the same challenges the world over.”

Titled Writing with a Difference, to Make a Difference, the ABL International Conference brought together 35 teachers from a dozen schools across Nairobi, India and the US for workshops on writing, using technology in the classroom, teacher research, and HIV/AIDS education. Twelve ABL staff members, including Associate Director Richard Gorham PA ‘86, traveled to Kenya to visit schools and conduct workshops for teachers and students. Conference co-directors David Wandera of the Aga Khan Academy and Patricia Echessa-Kariuki of The Rusinga School each attended the Andover Bread Loaf Workshop at Phillips Academy in the late ‘90s, and have since gone on to organize many professional development programs for teachers from many schools in Nairobi.

“It was a life-changing experience” said ABL staffer Roberto German of Lawrence, who traveled to Africa for the first time to attend the conference and conduct writing workshops for teachers and students. Roberto echoed the experience of all the ABL staff who went to Kenya to present workshops, but learned as much as they taught.

Since 1987, Andover Bread Loaf, based at Phillips Academy, has partnered with Middlebury College’s Graduate School of English (the source of the quirky ‘Bread Loaf’ name) to improve education in traditionally underserved communities throughout the US and abroad. Based around a two-week teacher institute held at Phillips Academy in the summer, ABL’s long-term goals are to build sustainable, interlinked professional networks in cities around the world that transform education and empower teachers and students to use writing to change their world.

An important part of ABL’s success has been the ability to sustain partnerships with teachers and schools across the globe over time. “The key is the commitment of these wonderful teachers to work together to build communities across great distances” said ABL director and longtime Phillips Academy English teacher Lou Bernieri. “We’ve seen what committed teachers can do when we help build a network that supports and connects them.”

Currently, Andover Bread Loaf is actively helping to build sustained teacher networks in New Orleans, New York City, Mumbai, India, Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Nairobi. Future plans include work with schools in Capetown, South Africa. The goal, as always: to build community, improve education, and transform lives.

In the words of ABL staffer Lee Krishnan, who teaches in India: “ I go back to Mumbai, blessed by the bonds of lasting friendships, enriched by all that I have learnt, inspired by the commitment and generosity of all the facilitators and participants, touched by the warmth and kindness shown us by strangers.”