|
Jeremy Rhodes knows how to rally teachers around a great cause. No small feat considering Jeremy doesn’t have formal training in the profession and had his first real taste of teaching when he founded Elephant Thoughts Global Development Initiatives in 2002. The nonprofit organization, based out of Clarksburg, Ont., brings extracurricular science and technology programs to school kids – including a large number of aboriginal students – in the belief that this added knowledge will lay the foundation for a bright future.
Affectionately known by his students as Dr. Germ, Jeremy uses robotics and fun, whacky but meaningful experiments to get kids hooked on science. He was inspired to create Elephant Thoughts after several years of volunteering in Asia. “Overseas I was able to realize what kind of difference I wanted to see and make in the world,” he says. His group’s name is a nod to this influence, he adds, noting the elephant is a symbol of Asia.
The two main programs that the organization runs are the Canadian Aboriginal Youth Science Initiative and Atoms to Asteroids, an after-school science club offered in rural and urban Ontario. Through these initiatives, teachers from across Ontario have volunteered their time and talent in more than 100 First Nation communities as well as in more than 50 schools throughout Ontario.
The group is now building a school on the border of India and Nepal that will be partially staffed with volunteer Canadian teachers. “Teachers are very passionate to see this happen,” says Jeremy. “It’s part of our goal to make sure all kids can get a great education.”.
Jeremy’s Me To We Award money will go toward building the school in Nepal.
|
