Most schools officially ended their academic school year in late June or first week July. Many private schools will run 4-5 weeks of vacation school programs that will cater to their students, offering other academic activities beyond the regular courses offered. The cost for attending these few weeks of vacation school is usually quite steep with many parents who have children in public school opting for their children to remain at home during the school break.
This means that thousands of school children across Liberia are usually idle for weeks with no positive engagement of their minds during the 2 month break.
The Kids Educational Engagement Project (KEEP) has decided to work in partnership with two public schools to provide engagement with the students for four weeks in a vacation school program its calling “Enriching Minds” which will focus on working with children in grades K2-3rd in the areas of Reading, Math, Writing, Arts & Crafts and Educational Games.
This program will cover over 200 students and will be completely free to all participants and has been mostly sponsored by the Amos Lodge No. 10 Masonic Lodge who made a donation of U$1,200 to the organization to cover cost of art supplies, snacks, workbooks, educational supplies among other things.
Making the presentation on behalf of the Amos Lodge No. 10, Worshipful Brother Karl R. Smith, head of the Lodge, commended such a Liberian led initiatives and pledged the support of the Lodge in supporting educational activities in the country. Worshipful Brother said “In an effort to help transform the educational system from mess to best, we believe that it is important for every child to have a solid educational foundation and the vacation school project is the perfect jump-start for building that foundation and, in keeping with our Masonic duty to provide charity to the less fortunate, we are proud to support this initiative.”
Speaking in response to receiving the donation from the Lodge, Mrs. Brenda Brewer Moore, Founder & Executive Director of KEEP thanked the Brothers of the Lodge for their generous support in thinking about underserved children and giving back to the society in meaningful ways. She mentioned that if more Liberians could become involved in charitable efforts, it would certainly get Liberia on a path for a better tomorrow. She also urged the Lodge members to be ready to volunteer in KEEP’s other programs which the Brothers responded by expressing their intent to not only contribute their time to KEEP but they will also implore Brothers from other Masonic Lodges to participate as well because the more members of the Craft adhere to the Masonic tenet of charity and altruism, the more it dispels the negative Masonic misconceptions that pervades society. So they enthusiastically stated that they look forward to reading, tutoring and lecturing the kids during the vacation program.
Amos Lodge No. 10 is one of fourteen active Subordinate Lodges operating under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Liberia. The Grand Lodge of the Republic of Liberia is the one and only governing authority of Freemasonry in the country and it is presided over by the Grand Master of Masons of the Republic of Liberia, Most Worshipful Brother James E. Pierre 33°. Amos Lodge No. 10 hails from St. John River City in Grand Bassa County. Amos Lodge No. 10 is currently headed by Worshipful Master, Worshipful Brother Karl R. Smith along with the Senior Warden, Bro. James A. A. Pierre II, and the Junior Warden, Bro. Wil Bako Freeman 33°.
