The Bari Lipp Foundation

Since its founding in 2008, the Bari Lipp Foundation has worked through the administration of the Teaching Fellowship Program at Yongfeng Elementary School to provide students in one rural Chinese village with the educational opportunities that every child deserves. Through the utilization of researchable and replicable methods the fellowship aims to show that real progress can be made towards empowering rural students and ensuring that every child is given fair access to a good education. To reach this goal, each year the Bari Lipp Foundation recruits four outstanding recent graduates to live and work at the Yongfeng Elementary School.

Teaching Fellows spend weekdays immersed in the Yongfeng community, working with the Yongfeng Elementary School principal and teachers to improve every aspect of students’ school experiences:

• Project­‐Based Teaching: Fellows are expected to use their own experiences and knowledge to create a vibrant learning environment in a variety of classes. There is a focus on English and science classes, but fellows also instruct students in art, music, physical education, and computers depending on their strengths and interests.

• Extra­‐Curricular Activities: Past fellows organized a school library, put together sports teams, developed special interest clubs, and worked with students on gardening and farming in the school garden. Fellows are encouraged to develop projects in line with their own interests.

• Teacher Training: Yongfeng fellows are a resource to the entire area around Yongfeng, and they are expected to pass their experiences with creative education on to other educators at local elementary and middle schools.

• Performance Tracking: The Yongfeng Program plans to monitor the progress of its graduates. Thisdata will be used to measure the impact of the program, aid students with future educational financial needs, and develop policy at the school.

• Community Engagement: Work with local partners on initiatives to improve local life. Once again, fellows are encouraged to develop projects that they find challenging and stimulating.