Godfred Apaliya developed a liking for his class six teacher because of her teaching style and the way she conducted herself. She was very graceful and made sure they understood whatever she was teaching before she moved on to another topic. For this reason, Godfred considered her a mentor and he decided to become a teacher in future. This is a dream he has since achieved and over which he has no regrets.
After attending primary school, Godfred was faced with many challenges in junior high school, mostly due to the lack of teachers in his school. He moved from the village and began school in the city. There, he met good teachers who helped him to learn and make good grades. Upon completion, he read physics and mathematics at the EP College of Education where he graduated as a professional teacher.
Currently, Godfred is a teacher at the Sacred Heart International School and he handles about a hundred and twenty students. He has been teaching for five years now, and during his time as a teacher, the school came in third place in the 2016 BECE across the country. Godfred hopes to one day be a lecturer in science in a university and he is actively working towards this dream.
Godfred believes that science is an important subject that teaches the young generation a lot about the environment. He says that “the more you teach STEM, the more knowledge and experience you gather.” One thing that he likes about teaching STEM is the fact that most of the topics in STEM have practical applications. Furthermore, he has found that teaching students practical lessons facilitates their understanding of key concepts and principles.
He is also motivated when he sees his students climbing the educational ladder to the top and he hopes that they will make an impact in society. This is what inspires him to give his students quality teaching, much better than what he had back in school. It is also why he was so excited when one of his students called to inform him that he was studying to become a physician assistant at the University of Science and Technology.
Godfred sees the JUNEOS Challenge as an avenue to celebrate the creativity of students. According to him, he has learnt through the challenge that science is not all about teaching theoretical lessons, but also the practical aspects are equally important. This is because the practical demonstrations make the understanding of the theory easy for students. Godfred also believes that the JUNEOS Challenge has influenced his teaching by exposing him to other ways of handling practical lessons even if the required materials are not readily available.
Article by Kofi Dzogbewu
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Kofi Dzogbewu is a Ghanaian storyteller. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English Language and Literature from the University of Ghana. He works with words in many forms including non-fiction, fiction, play and poetry. He is an alumnus of the Mo Issa Writing Workshops. His works have been featured in the Kalahari Review and other online literary journals. You can find more of his work on his blog.
