The Toils and Rewards of STARS

During Peace Corps training, one of the things we learned about was the yearly STARS conference at KNUST. As wonderful as the conference sounded at the time, it took me nearly a year of teaching here to see just how beneficial the conference would be to the outstanding students of Ghana.

I am a teacher at Kwaebibirem Model Junior High School in the Eastern Region, and every day I work with a number of exceptional students who, in the right environment, could go very far in life. In my opinion, the STARS Conference provides one of the best environments for the top students of Ghana: they are traveling outside of their area, sometimes for the first time, to meet and interact with student just like themselves, while at the same time participating in a variety of sessions ranging from career choices to HIV/AIDS in Ghana. At STARS, students can meet powerful role models, talk through real issues Ghanaians face every day, discuss gender equality and empowerment, and use computers with internet access.

What is particularly important is the fact that these students get the chance to partake in one of the most memorable and positive experiences of their lives, then share what they have experienced with their classmates when they return to school. They also take with them contact information of the new friends they made from all parts of Ghana.

When this year’s STARS team was being put together, I signed on to help with fund raising and media coverage. Initially, I was interested in learning more about the corporate world of Ghana and making connections along the way. Also, as a teacher in Ghana it is sometimes frustrating to work so hard without seeing immediate results; in working with STARS, I hoped to get some instant gratification by working with companies and seeing it come together in the end. As the months went by, and I got deeper and deeper into playing my role for STARS, I began to see just how important it was to get Ghanaian sponsorship. I realized that Ghanaian support would send a strong message to the students and speakers attending that Ghanaian companies cared about promoting the education of Ghanaian youth.

I believe in the STARS conference, and wanted to help make it the best one yet, even if it meant going back and forth from Accra and spending several hours working with companies. The pay-off, to me, would be helping to reward those students who are hard working, intelligent, and creative to take part in one of the best experiences of their lives.

- Darren Fleischer, Peace Corps Volunteer, Kwaebibirem Modern JHS