User:Hughsibbele22/African Leadership Academy

African Leadership Academy
The African Leadership Academy is a pan-African, coeducational boarding school in Johannesburg, South Africa. It offers a rigorous, two-year preparatory course of instruction based on the internationally recognized A-Level curriculum. It was founded in 2008 with a vision to "transform Africa by developing and supporting the next generation of African leaders".

The school's inaugural class includes 97 students from 28 different countries across Africa, as well as students from Lebanon and the United States. They were chosen from more than 1,700 applicants and represent some of the most talented high school students in Africa. The school aims to inspire its students to use their considerable talents to "lead Africa towards a peaceful and prosperous future".

History
The African Leadership Academy was founded in 2004 by Chris Bradford, Peter Mombaur, Acha Keke and Fred Swaniker in 2004 with the belief that the solution to Africa's problems lie in ethical and effective leadership. They began by started a non-profit foundation, the African Leadership Foundation to raise money for the opening of the school. After initial difficulties, the Foundation opened a summer camp in Cape Town, South Africa in 2004. The camp was initially known as the Summer Academy at Cape Town, but its name is now Global Leadership Adventures, and it has expanded to 11 sites across the world.

The summer camp served as a prototype of sort for the Academy, which opened in September, 2008 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its inaugural class represented 29 different African countries, as well as the United States and Lebanon. The inaugural faculty, as well, hailed from across Africa and the world. The first Dean of the Academy, chosen in 2007, was Christopher Khaemba, a renowned African educator and Headmaster of Alliance Boy's High School in Nairobi, Kenya.

Curriculum
The goal of the education offered at ALA is to "prepare each student for a lifetime of leadership in Africa. " Accordingly, ALA has a unique curriculum, based on the Cambridge International A-level and AS-level curriculum, but adapted to suit ALA's focus on Africa. The Academy offers courses of study in the following A-level and AS-level subjects: English literature, mathematics, further mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry, computing, economics, geography, French literature, French language, Arabic, Chinese, and English language. In addition to these course, ALA also requires all students to take the unique courses of African Studies, Leadership and Entrepeneurship. These courses were designed specifically for the African Leadership Academy, and are the only such courses offered at preparatory level in the world.

The capstone of the curriculum is the Culminating Service Project, or CSP. Each student is required to design and implement over the course of their two years at the Academy a service project that "has a lasting and sustainable impact" in the community. The CSP requirement is designed to apply the information learned in the Leadership, Entrepreneurship and African Studies courses, as well as giving students valuable first-hand experience working for African communities.

Methods of Instruction
Teaching at ALA relies on discussion and participation. Teachers are known as 'facilitators,' and classes are arranged so that the teachers and students sit around facing each other. Every student is encouraged by the facilitators and the grading system to participate so that they develop understanding and discussion skills, rather than just memorize information. Group work is emphasized, as well as students teaching their peers through frequent presentations.

Learning at ALA does not only take place in the classroom. ALA also invites numerous guest speakers from a variety of important fields to speak to the entire student body several evenings a week. These speakers offer students a chance to see the theory of leadership in Africa and the world applied, as well as providing good role models and effective mentors. The guest speakers, who often also offer seminars and workshops to smaller groups of students are invariably prominent in their fields, such as Judge Edwin Cameron, Peter Sullivan, the Editor in Chief of South Africa's Independent Newspapers and human rights activist Kimmie Weeks.

The guest speaker program is emblematic of a larger emphasis at ALA - the focus on making learning practical and directly% applicable to Africa. To this end, all classes, even classes whose subject matter seem to have little to do with Africa are always related to the continent. Students are always encouraged to make connections between their classes and their community. This is also emphasized through the Case Learning Program, in which students learn academic subjects, Leadership and Entrepreneurship through real-life case studies researched and complied by ALA. This allows students to identify role models and see what they are learning applied to Africa.

Admissions
ALA admits students on the basis of five criteria: academic achievement, leadership potential, entrepreneurial spirit, dedication to public service, and passion for Africa. Admission to ALA is highly selective; of 1,700 applicants for the 1st class, only 106 were offered admission. This is an acceptance rate of 6.2%. The process is quite rigorous, including two applications, and an interview. Selection is made on the basis of merit alone, as there are scholarships available for any and all who need them.

Campus
ALA's campus is located north of Johannesburg, South Africa in Honeydew. The campus was originally a training center for the South African printing industry known as Cross Media Training Center. ALA actually shared the campus with Cross Media until November 2008 when the last Cross Media Students left.

The campus is oriented around a circular quad. The classroom block and library, the administration building, the dining hall, the dorms, the former Cross Media teaching center and the auditorium all radiate off the path that surrounds the grassy quad.

Key Beliefs and Core Values
Life at ALA is largely guided by the school's six core values: integrity, curiosity, humility, compassion, diversity, and excellence. Faculty and the Dean frequently invoke these values, and students often do so among themselves, albeit somewhat ironically. They are posted in every classroom and throughout the school. But still,