KIPP Atlanta teachers give gift of reading to Kenyans

Finishing a long school year can be exhausting, but that didn’t stop educators from KIPP Atlanta Schools from traveling 7,900 miles to teach reading during their summer break.

KIPP reading coach Kristal Peterson said she relished the opportunity to be part of a mission trip to Nairobi, Kenya, to establish literacy clinics in the Kibera slums.

Through teacher training, clinics and ongoing partnerships, KIPP educators are helping their Kenyan colleagues give thousands of students the gift of reading.

“When you are presented the opportunity to do the work that you love in another country, with a phenomenal team, you take it,” said Peterson, an educator of 20-plus years, including 10 years as a classroom teacher.

KIPP Atlanta Schools is a network of 11 tuition-free, public charter schools and a partner school operating in Atlanta and East Point.

Peterson and colleague Mia Jenkins are both science of reading coaches at KIPP Atlanta primary schools who work with teachers to support literacy. They organized the clinics and trained teachers during an 11-day stay in Nairobi. Three other KIPP educators also helped with the mission.

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