This summer, four teachers from Lincoln Park Preschool and Kindergarten embarked on a trip to Hope Community School in Ndola, Zambia, furthering a partnership that has flourished for the last seven years. LPP and Hope Community School have maintained a sister school partnership since 2016. Originally connected by Chicago-based non-profit Spark Ventures, the impact of the continued relationship between Hope and LPP has been felt across the globe. The connection between the communities continues to grow.
During their partner visits, Hope provides the LPP staff with hospitality, cultural experiences, language lessons, local food, and traditional music and dancing, with travel coordinated by Spark Ventures. LPP visit days include teaching side-by-side with Hope teachers in the preschool classrooms, interacting with students, participating in reading groups, and even time to play soccer and fly kites in the yard. LPP staff report their time at Hope being “life-changing”, “life-affirming”, and providing “a sense of belonging I’ve never experienced before.”
LPP proudly supports Hope as it continues to expand. The preschool program and the library, both founded and funded by LPP, have made a massive impact on Hope’s campus, and the surrounding village of Twapia.
It is a people-first partnership with a clear vision: Provide a loving, community-centered, whole-child education. Since LPP’s first visit to Zambia in January of 2017, LPP and Hope staff have continued to connect with yearly visits, sharing resources, materials, lesson plans, and ideas. This trip, they launched a joint Google Classroom, allowing teachers to upload videos of lessons and circle times with students in both communities, posting ideas and celebrating each other’s successes in and out of the classroom.
In addition to the lessons LPP staff planned and shared in the preschool classrooms week, LPP arrived with much needed supplies. This year with the support of the LPP community, they filled six suitcases with art, building and teaching materials for the preschool program. The LPP Foundation contributes a full scope of resources that allows Hope to maintain a revolutionary preschool program year round, including Hope preschool staff salaries, books and other classroom material costs. These contributions are consistent and ongoing.
In celebration of LPP’s 30th anniversary, partner organizations will be highlighted each month.
