Last week marked the end of another incredible school year at Seeds of Hope! After two years of instability during the pandemic, this year marked a full return to our school year with children attending daily and all school activities and trips back up and running.
This year again marked our largest student body in Seeds of Hope history as our school continues to grow. Thanks to the incredible generosity of our partners and supporters like you, we’re continuing to expand our school and will add a fifth-grade class in the fall. Construction is underway for our new temporary school expansion, and we’re excited to update you on that later in the summer.
At our graduation ceremony, we celebrated a year of hard work and learning for all our students, but it’s always a special year for students graduating from kindergarten and moving up to elementary school.
“When I think about this year, I think of several things,” said Sereen Shamali, our Kindergarten Principal. “First, finally getting to see the students’ beautiful faces and hug them every day after two unstable years. Second, I think about how they have built character in so many ways this year and learned to treat each other with kindness and acceptance.”
As always, our school is not only focused on academic achievement—though the education our students receive is unlike anything else available in Jericho. We are focused on developing our students emotionally through our core values curriculum. We’ve seen over and over how this impacts the students and families at Seeds of Hope.
PHOTO: Our kindergarten class held their graduation last week and celebrated all they’ve accomplished academically and personally this year.
For one student named Omar, this was the year that he and his family found acceptance at Seeds of Hope. Omar has a rare disorder that affects many things, including his speech, swallowing, and eating. He eats through a feeding tube in his stomach and sometimes struggles to communicate.
“I have always wondered if my son will even be able to be in school,” said Omar’s mother. “And even if he can go to school, would he find acceptance from the teachers and the other students? Especially with the lack of schools in Jericho that accept special needs cases.
“I didn’t know if we would find someone comfortable feeding him when he went to kindergarten or if he could even go. But at Seeds of Hope, I found hope,” she told us. “Jessica, the school principal, volunteered to feed Omar right away when he started. That was the biggest joy and happiness for me.”
Over the course of his kindergarten year, Omar developed academically and socially, making incredible progress despite the challenges he faced. Even more, the students around him accepted him with open arms.
“Putting Omar at Seeds of Hope had a big positive effect on his behavior and development,” said his mother. “It taught him to have healthy disciplines and his social skills increased. He made friends that love him, and he loves them. My goal was to let Omar be confident and accept himself, despite his differences, and to find the academic life that is appropriate for him. I only found this at Seeds of Hope.”
Our school is so much more than teaching children English, science, or math. We are shaping the next generation of our community to lead with love and acceptance, despite their differences. And we believe that kind of change can impact Jericho, the Middle East, and beyond!
