Nanubhai's Co-Teachers Certificate Ceremony

On Sunday, February 27th 2011, the first group of Nanubhai Education Foundation co-teachers, Sameer, Yogesh, and Amita, were awarded certificates recognizing the truly notable work they've accomplished throughout this year. Sitting around the conference room table of the school's board room, the fellows and co-teachers took turns commenting all aspects of our experience this year, ranging from gratitude towards their working partners to ways in which the experience of teaching under the Nanubhai model had grown them.

As Zach very aptly noted during the ceremony, the certificates do more than simply recognize the work of the co-teachers for this one, isolated year. In reality, in the same way that they carry their certificates out with them through the door and into their hometowns, they carry with them a year's worth of experience teaching in a model that emphasizes the introduction of change in an educational system where change is in dire need. These teachers are now agents of change in the schools, and with Amita working closely with the Foundation in the upcoming year, Nanubhai's co-teacher model is inevitably going to witness a multiplicative effect.

I think that our certificate ceremony, albeit small and somewhat informal, gave us all a glimpse into what the future may hold for this Foundation. What counts is not a perfect model or a sales pitch. What lies at the core of the work that this Foundation does is the energy and dedicated passion of the local co-teachers, willing to step outside of their comfort zones and devote themselves to constant improvement. We communicated to our co-teachers during the ceremony that although they will likely never see or talk with many of the Nanubhai staff and volunteers in the United States, their efforts do not go by unnoticed.

Congratulations to our great co-teachers for their incredible work and dedication!