Daylight is approaching its tenth anniversary in January. There are now 380 kids attending the school, over one third of whom are orphans.

The results of the annual Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam were just published for this fall. This is the nationwide qualifying test for students to move from eighth grade to high school.

Daylight is now one of the top school in West Pokot County! A county in Kenya is the equivalent of a State in the U.S.

We were featured in The Standard – the national paper of Kenya.

Daylight students are at a theoretical disadvantage on this test. First, some of our eighth-grade students came to Daylight in the past few years speaking nothing but their tribal language, and the test is in English.

Second, we hire young teachers (often right out of university) to work for 1 – 3 years for about 1/3 of what public school teachers make. But they work hard and are amazing young teachers. They teach in a collaborative model and motivate the students to think, not memorize. They believe in and love the kids, the Daylight Model, and the idea that every child can succeed.

In addition, the top individual student in our West Pokot county is Daylight’s own Leah Chepkemoi.

Leah Chepkemoi being celebrated at Daylight at top girl in the county!

When Leah grows up she wants to be a lawyer.  “I want to help people equally. Rich and poor. Today there are corrupt lawyers that don’t help people equally. They want a lot of money so poor people can’t afford a lawyer.”

These results are truly amazing, and I tell you this so that all who support Daylight can recognize what an amazing place it is.

Thanks for supporting Daylight and please make a pledge this year to support our students in 2018!

Sincerely,
Dr. Lenny Snellman
Daylight Board Member

Dr. Lenny Snellman giving children check-ups at Daylight village School in Alale.