Around midyear 2015, a group of former Nyahururu high school students led by Bedan Thendu 94, formed a whatsapp group aimed at bring them together. After a few months of populating the group and catching up, the group decided to hold a meeting to chart the way forward.
Subsequently, on 31ST October 2017, a group of about 25 met at the Stem hotel in Nakuru for dinner.
There were various deliberations on the night one of which was to elect an interim office as well as develop an agenda for the association and the members therein. On 1st November, the elections were held and the following elected as interim officials;
Bedan Thendu 94 Chairman
Felix Njaramba 94 Chairman Welfare
Eric Magira 96 Vice Chairman
Isaac Thuku 95 Member Welfare
Michael Chege 94 Treasurer
Steve Muchai 93 Member Welfare
John Gachie 92 Secretary General
Joe Muhiu 91 Organizing Secretary
The rest present were tasked with acting as regional coordinators in their various counties as well as support the above in rolling out the association. In the remaining months of 2015 we embarked on recruiting as many people as possible within our networks mainly relying on social media.
Activities and achievements so far
BURSARY FUND
At the beginning of 2016, the principal, Mr. Karimi, contacted us when 3 bright but disadvantaged boys showed up for form one admission with nothing but the shirts on their backs. After a through due diligence we asked the members to adopt a bursary scheme as our first program with the 3 students as a start. Members responded positively and within a week we were able to place them in class with first term fees fully paid as well as personal items and pocket money given. The boys are currently in form 2 and the fees for the year have been fully paid up. The association has also cleared some fee balances on other ongoing needy students on a case by case basis. Additionally, through our network about 15 other students are being sponsored by individual members.
MARCH MENTOR SHIP AND CAREER GUIDANCE DAY
The above event was birthed out of the tragedy of having the 2015 results cancelled. The principal graciously readmitted all the boys to re sit the exam in 2016 but immediately tensions arose between 2015 and 2016 candidates mainly on superiority issues. The principal called us to assist and on 2nd April 2016, we sent a team of 12 lead by the executive committee to engage counsel coach and share with the students about the importance of education and value of second chances. We managed to raise 100,000/- which was spent on snacks and sodas given to all the students and staff as encouraged. The visit proved effective and within no time the dust settled and everyone got down to the business of studying. In 2017 we decided to make this visit annual and use it to guide the students on careers and mentorship especially to form 4s choosing degree courses and form 2 S about to choose cluster subjects. On March 11th 2017. A group of 35 made the career day and held day long sessions with students on the same. The budget for the event was 125,000/-.
ANNUAL PRIZE GIVING AND PERFORMANCE APPRECIATION DAY.
Following the success of the April visit in 2016, we decided to go back for a second visit to reward best performance with a view to motivating the students to aspire for greatness. On 11th June 2016 we held the 1st such event which was a resounding success. Members raised 445,000/- from which we spent about 300,000/- on presents and a luncheon for the whole school community. About 160 students who had excelled in academia, sports and other extracurricular pursuits were awarded gifts and certificates all bought and prepared by the members. Our reward? Of the 374 candidates who sat the exam last year, 219 made in to university including 8 who attained A- grades and about 150 qualified for placement in tertiary institutions. A total of 80 old boys showed up for the event. The date for this year’s event is 10th June 2017 from 8 am. The budget is 400,000/-.
TEACHERS RETREAT
On account of the heavy burden of preparing nearly 400 students for the 2016 exam, members felt that we needed to appreciate the hard work of the teachers. So on November 19th 2016, members raised 220,000/- to send teachers for a retreat at Olokai lodge in Kabarak Nakuru county. Part of the funds was given to each teacher as token for the coming Christmas.
THE NEXT STEP- INTEGRATED ICT LEARNING PROJECT
THE Above activities were initially on an adhoc basis as we begun but moving forward have now became annual calendar events. However as we kept visiting the school, members noted a serious lack of facilities, congestion and neglect of the school infrastructure as much the population had ballooned to over 1,000 students. Since the school has taken the initiative to construct a 280 bed hostel, we chose an integrated ICT learning system as our first legacy project for 2017. In it we intend to replace the chalk and board teacher with a computer aided platform based one.
We intend to equip each class with a projector and laptop connected to a central server where all learning material will be stored and initially accessed by teachers only but will be open to students once we digitize the library. Eventually we intend for the school to have modern ICT based teaching and all processes managed systems where even students’ results will be generated and shared with parents via email. The 21st century has proven extremely competitive and we must prepare our students for that reality through such projects.
