Our Story
In the 11 years that the Expedition Club has been making trips to Thailand, Phapang has changed a lot. Before students who graduated from 9th grade (the highest grade in Phapang) the idea of going to higher education was a still a big question and going
to college was even a larger one. Not many children aspired to be much more than that. These days the attitude for education has changed and students are studying more and working harder to become some of the best in Thailand.
Back in 2003 Phapang Elementary School barley made it into compete in district competitions. In 2006 Phapang went on to win second and then first in districts for English. In 2008 they started placing in state competitions. In 2009 they started to win state
and compete in regional competitions. Now in 2013 Phapang, a small town of 1,000 people, won second place in English story-telling and first place in Math in a national competition. This has made us incredibly proud of the people in Phapang!
Our Project and Why It Matters
“The students from the Expedition Club are not only friendly; they have great teaching skills and lesson plans. This has changed the learning environment in Phapang. The students’ perspective on English has flipped and now they love
to learn and they have the self-confidence to speak English.” – Arworn Funkam-ai (Translated by Pricha Jaopliphon from a letter written to the Port Townsend Leader by the English teacher in Phapang)
This feeling almost seems to be contagious. Now neighboring villages are starting to push for higher education standards. Excitment seems to keep growing for Phapang and the neighboring towns.
The problem that we are now facing is - how can we keep the education growing during the rest of the year while the Expedition Club is not in Phapang?
Some students now are getting close to having a larger vocabulary that some of their local English teachers. We came up with an idea to build an English Library. This will allow students and teachers to continually grow with their
vocabulary and understanding. It will also be a great place to store educational supplies for the Expedition Club during the off-season. We believe that this project will be the first domino to drastically improving the education in Thailand’s rural North.
How You Can Help
The young boy who won second place in all of Thailand for his English story-telling told me a story. “When I was in Bangkok at the competition some one asked me where I was from. I told him Phapang and he asked where that was. I told
him near Thoen and he asked where that was. I asked him – you have never heard of Phapang or Thoen? And he said - I have now!”
With your help, we can make Phapang the face of sustainable rural education in Thailand. Please share this campaign widely with your friends and family in your global network, and help us make a difference in the lives of these incredible
children.
