March 15, 2016|Newsletter
Maru-a-Pula emerge victorious at the Academy’s 2016 Derby Day. The annual sports day took place on Saturday, 12 March 2016 on our campus. We hosted Maru-a-Pula from Botswana and Lebone College of the Royal Bafokeng from the North West province of South Africa. The second annual Derby Day saw participants take part in sports and cultural activities which included: soccer, chess, STEM and choir presentations.
The day comprised of sports competitions, with an emphasis on promoting healthy competition among the three schools. Although all participating athletes were expected to play their best (and win) – they were also focused on having fun. Bowen Kelley (United States), coach of ALA’s basketball team, expressed gratitude towards the performance of all the competing teams.
Even though winning was the objective of all the schools that participated at this year’s event, the joy of being part of the day seemed more important. Ishmael Phokwane, sports coordinator at Lebone College, said that he enjoyed the entire competition despite conceding a loss. Lebone were the Derby Day champions in 2015. Ishmael further stated that he hoped that his teams would perform better in next year’s challenge. African Leadership Academy assumed second place, while Maru-a-Pula took first place.
Other highlights from the day were the STEM and choir presentations. There were outstanding STEM presentations by ALA young leaders Eniola Oladipo (Nigeria) and Oluwatomisin Fasawe (Nigeria) on the topic Quantum mechanics; as well as an interesting STEM presentation that involved a Lebone College student speaking about her love for Science using music. There was a choir workshop held, headed by Mopati Morake (ALApella conductor) and Sakaiza Rajery. At the end of the day ALApella and Lebone College’s choir performed two songs, much to the audience’s enthusiasm. This event serves as a platform to engage with local and international schools to promote camaraderie and establish relationships with schools in Africa.
