April 02, 2010
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Marin’s Camilla Barry Returning to Afghan Schools to “Bring Science to Life” Mill Valley’s Park School will feature science teacher Camilla Barry at their annual Park School Science Night on Wednesday, April 7, at 6:00 p.m. with demonstrations of the hands-on science lessons she teaches in Afghanistan. Park School students will also demonstrate science experiments. Admission to the event is free. Money raised from refreshments, including pizza, will be donated to Classrooms Across Cultures. Classrooms Across Cultures was founded by Camilla to help rebuild school systems in countries devastated by disasters. Since 2003, she has focused her efforts in Afghanistan where she has trained hundreds of teachers and, through them, thousands of students. She uses inquiring, hands-on science lessons to motivate thinking and investigation, believing that active minds make for a better, more peaceful world. Camilla was deeply moved by the plight of the Afghan people, especially women and children, under Taliban rule in Afghanistan and when the Taliban government fell in 2002, she says, “I just knew I had to help them – I didn’t know how, but I thought there had to be a way. Teaching hands-on science in a way that students really understand it is a gift I’ve been given and helping Afghan teachers learn how to teach using the techniques I’ve learned through the years has become my ‘calling.’” Her first trip to Afghanistan in 2003 was made through the auspices of Global Exchange, an organization that promotes world peace through people-to-people tours, after a friend asked her to accompany her. It was during that trip that she found schools interested in her teaching techniques. She has returned to the country seven times since then, making friends and teaching teachers and students throughout the country. One of her science lessons has resulted in a cottage industry for Afghan women. The botany lesson focused on using native Afghan plants, beeswax and olive oil to make an herbal skin ointment. The women are now making and selling the salve. During her 2009 trip, Camilla was asked by the Afghan Ministry of Education to revamp their science curriculum. She subsequently wrote a hands-on science book, a first for the country. It has been illustrated and translated into two languages and she plans to return next month to assist in getting it printed and distributed to teachers throughout the country. She will also lead workshops for faculty at teacher colleges across the country. Park School Photos are available and Camilla is available for interviews. More information about Classrooms Across Cultures: www.classroomsacrosscultures.org. For donations to Classrooms Across Cultures: online at www.classroomsacrosscultures.org
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