In a recent professional development morning with faculty, we watched a presentation given by Mr Lance King (www.taolearning.org)  Mr King talked at length about developing students as self-regulated learners.  His focus upon students as self-directed lifelong learners touched on many areas.  One in particular struck a chord.  In order for students to become confident in their abilities moving forward, it’s helpful to have strong role models that they can relate to.  It’s great to hold up people like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and Mother Theresa as role models but these exceptional people are, just that, exceptional. They are not particularly accessible to our students.  Mr King talked about the valuable role alumni could have as role models for current students.  Identifying alumni as role models and celebrating the successes of alumni could be valuable in helping current students understand options, develop confidence, and instill a sense of self-efficacy moving forward.

I was recently in London recruiting new teachers.  While in London I had the

pleasure of attending the first international LCS alumni reunion, organized by Khushboo Moolchandani (class of 2005) and Stan Osei-Bonsu (Class of 2005)   Here is a list of some of the impressive young alumni who attended.

• Fritz Riha  – class of 2005, spent a couple of years at Lincoln, currently works at Barclays as a Digital Designer in their Customer Experience team)Guendalina Gianfranchi- class of 2005, left LCS in grade 6, currently studying in the UK for her masters.
• Nathalie Wilson-  class of 2005, left LCS in grade 6 as well, studied and works in the UK as an Online Marketer
• Gun Ming Chung- class of 2007, he is a lawyer
• Carina Claire Jeppesen- class of 2005, left LCS in grade 8, works as a social media marketer
• Correne Omole- class of 2007, completing her masters in  Gender Development and Globalization at the London School of Economics

These impressive young alumni from LCS were a pleasure to be around.  They are

potential role models for our current students.  They are successful adults.  They are grounded in their work partly because of their LCS roots.   There are many other LCS alumni with equally impressive track records!  The LCS Facebook alumni page is the place for networking!  www.facebook.com/lcsalum

Alumni of LCS….you have a huge potential in helping our current students as they define themselves.   We need to make sure you are connected to LCS and that you have an ongoing relationship.  From my perspective, I ‘m hoping to ensure that current students have strong role models of graduates who are making their way in the world. There are multiple paths to share as examples.  Recently Christal Beeko and Sterre Mkatini, from the class of 2004, shared a current project with the LCS community.  The project is a sickle cell awareness drive in hopes of raising funds for the first screening machine (which could save lives) to be donated to Korle Bu teaching hospital. As well,  alum Fred Deegbe’s spoke to students about his involvement in a project “Heel the World”.  These alumni are important role models for current students.  We have much to learn from you!!

I would like to use this space to celebrate alumni accomplishments from students that I know personally.  As these come my way, I’ll be glad to share.

Here’s an accomplishment of a recent graduate….Over the past 2 1/2 years at LCS, I always enjoyed the voice of Anna Teye (class of 2012).  Here she is performing in a concert at Denison University in December 2012 with her gospel acapella group!  A nice example of an alumni following her passion and doing something very positive!

Anna Teye – in concert at Denison University in Ohio, December 2012

 

I want to hear from alumni and I know Khushboo is busy celebrating and connecting alumni from various years.