By: Erik Pedersen, Content Strategy Director
BALTIMORE – Service to others has been a cherished value of Notre Dame of Maryland University dating back to its foundation by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1895. The two institutions have displayed that continuing commitment in recent years through an extensive teacher training program to support education initiatives in Haiti.
Representatives from NDMU’s School of Education made three trips to the poverty-stricken Caribbean nation from 2017 through early 2020 in support of the SSND’s Train the Teacher program, forming long-lasting relationships with students and educators on La Gonâve, an island just west of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
While the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing political unrest have prevented travel in the past three years, the teacher training initiative has endured and thrived while transitioning to a virtual format. Dr. Lisa Pallett, associate professor in the School of Education, creates videos which include daily math lesson plans for grades one through three. The videos, which are translated into Haitian Creole before reaching the classroom, have been widely adapted by schools on La Gonâve, and they are being considered for implementation into Haiti’s national curriculum.
The School of Education’s first trip to Haiti in the summer of 2017 was focused on professional development, educating teachers on best practices, while the second outing during the following summer emphasized special education. Dr. Pallett joined the initiative for the most-recent trip in February 2020, which prioritized math education.
“A huge part of my personal mission is to make math understandable and enjoyable for everyone,” she said. “When we visited in 2020, we focused on developing a conceptual understanding of math through the use of manipulative materials. We brought a lot of those materials with us, and the lessons in these activity videos that I’m creating encourage teachers to continue using manipulatives and game-based learning to help students improve their math skills.”
Sharon Slear, SSND, Ph.D., initiated NDMU’s work in Haiti during her former role as dean of the School of Education. Sister Sharon, who now serves as Special Projects Assistant to the President after retiring from her role as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs in 2022, first visited the Caribbean nation in 2016. During that trip, she formed a partnership with the Matènwa Community Learning Center (MCLC) which continues in the present day.
MCLC and other affiliated schools on La Gonâve are the current primary beneficiaries of Dr. Pallett’s lesson videos. Beyond Borders, a nonprofit organization which collaborates with the SSNDs on several initiatives in Haiti, provides assistance translating the videos into Creole. Dr. Pallett will move on to grades four through sixth once she has completed the lesson plans for her current grade levels, and Sister Sharon has plenty of additional plans to support the partnership schools in the future.
“After we’ve finished with math, we hope to move on to STEM,” she said. “The schools there all grow their own gardens. That gives us a lot to work with for STEM – we wouldn’t have to bring as many manipulatives when we go. Other faculty members have already expressed interest in helping with that initiative.”
Sister Sharon was accompanied on all three previous trips by Kathy Sipes, a retired advisor and faculty member for the School of Education who played a leading role in observing and providing recommendations to the teachers, and Cindy Cottone, a former student of Sister Sharon’s who now works as an occupational therapist. Despite the continuing unrest in Haiti, Sister Sharon is ready to return to the Caribbean whenever an opportunity arises.
“I’m hoping to go back next year to rebuild the camaraderie we had with those teachers,” she said. “The staff at Matènwa told me that we were the first group to make a return trip. Companies would sign up, but they would always send different people each year because nobody wanted to return.
“There are definitely challenges,” she continued. “But the people are lovely. Their joy and gratefulness make me want to continue to go back.”
Established in 1895, Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.
