Sankofa Academy’s Mission is to promote challenging educational experiences which will enable all students to become productive members of society. We are comitted to supporting the development and implementation of comprehensive innovative programs, that maximizes students potential as they develop their critical thinking skills.
Sankofa’s vision is to create life long learners and nation builders who can be effective leaders of tomorrow.
Friday will be the conclusion of our first week since we introduced vegetarian lunches at Sankofa International Academy. Needless to say it was a success!!! First, my sincere gratitude to Babatunde who always has a friendly word to say to all the children when he meets them. He caters to them in his food. All the foods prepared seem to be prepared with them in mind. Babatunde looks at the reactions of the children and tries to tweek his menu according to their reactions. He asks them what do they like and offers a healthy alternative.
The first day was the mac and cheese. It didnt look like my mac and cheese and it didnt taste like it either. However, it was tasty, so much so Babatunde left some for me to sample and I enjoyed it so much I took it for lunch the next day. It was sweet and fulling, not cheesy, however I still liked it. It was delicious. The reactions of the children were obvious since no food was left behind. The kids ate their portion. There was on child who was aprehensive about eating. That was the first day, however
Dinner is usually a time of catching up with the kids. Sometimes there maybe no speaking because parents are trying to get the next day affairs in order in our mind and kids just have nothing to say.
But recently my dinner conversation has been very interesting. My son, Zack, who attends Sankofa International Academy likes to quiz me on my knowledge on Black information. Our conversation usually starts with “Did you know…?”
He recently brought to my attention that Lady Liberty’s original design was to be of a black woman(with true African features) with broken shackles on her hands and feet. The french designer who studied US history felt the true representation of Freedom was the liberation of African slaves in America. Wow!
What are your dinner conversations about?
This Monday, December 5, 2011 is the first week of Calabash Vegetarian Kitchen supplying SIA with school lunch. I will use this blog to track Zack’s responses to the menu and the ease with how the food is supplied to the school.
When I researched the cook, Babatunde, there were only praises about his food and the hospitality. I hope that my experience will elicit the same response. I am so excited because this is a part of the journey Zack and I are travelling to enrich his life with African culture. He is energetic, kind, and caring. In other words he is all over the place. There is no such thing as time out for Zachery because he cannot stay still. Even though he doesnt eat junk food, lets face it there are still chemicals in the food that may effect his body chemistry. Scientists has linked chemicals in food with children’s behavior. I am hoping that is the right direction for Zachery.
I believe that as Africans in America we are out of our natural element. Our bodies are not use to this climate, even though our race survived the climate and harsh conditions. So it’s a challenge to say the least to raise our black children in an environment that is not conducive to their dna. I am so happy that Babatunde chose Sankofa International Academy as his school of choice for his child. We did not have to search for his service he was able to advertise at one of our Parent/Teacher meetings. It was meant to be.
It will expose our children to a healthier alternative. I will be honest and say that it would’ve taken me longer to feed Zack a vegetarian diet had it not been for Babatunde. His food will hopefully help our children focus better in school. The following is the Menu for the first week
1. Monday Mac w/Vegan Cheese, BBQ tofu, vegetabe
2. Tuesday Ital Stew, Rice, Vegetable
3. Wednesday Homemade Veggie Burrito Wrap w/Chips & Salad
4. Thursday Wheat Pasta w/Curry Lentil Pease, Vegetable
5. Friday Veggie Burger w/Chips and Salad
All meals are served with a natural juice.
Stay tuned for updates on Zack’s reaction and the other kids who are -also having this healthy meals.
Babatunde also known as Calabash Veggie Cook can be reached at 347 447-3010
There will more to report about our discussed fundraising efforts as we have discussed many different options to help our school. But as a concerned parent before the Parents Association Meeting, I had signed the school up for a recycling program funded by terracycle who works with Caprisun drink pouches and Keebler Elves Co. I started sending back the pouches and to date we have $12.00 in the account. My first shipment was back in September which gleaned a whooping $2.00. I told another parent who gave me her pouches and because of a special program the account received a whooping $10.00. That is $12.00 we have for the school. Parents keep the pouches coming. Zachery is now collecting the children’s pouches after lunch. If this keeps up we will have may $50 toward our overall fundraising campaign. Parents lets allow the children to participate in any way they can to also raise money for themselves.
Ashe Ashe
October 18 was the second PTA meeting at Sankofa. It was a very productive and constructive meeting! It’s always very wonderful to see parents active in their children’s lives…and Sankofa has some very active parents.
Below are some of the decisions we came to, and ideas we came up with.
Oct. 4 was the first Parent Meeting of the school year. We had a good turn out. The energy was positive and I believe that we all came out with one purpose : to do what is best for the children.
It was very refreshing to see new faces mixed in with the old and to feel a spirit of comraderie the entire night. Progress was made that night because we now have officers for the Parent Associations.
We will definitely hear more about Sankofa International Academy. SIA will no longer be Brooklyn’s best kept secret.
Yes I am very late and my apologies to all that are reading this blog.Today we are having our first Parent’s Meeting. I cant wait to see all the new faces and old faces. I am excited to hear what is in store for the scholars of Sankofa International Academy. I cant wait to see YOU there!!!!
