St. Mary's School Yala
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St. Mary’s School Yala is a provincial school situated along the Kisumu-Busia highway in a small but serene township known as Yala Township in the Nyanza Province of Western Kenya.
This school was founded in 1927 by the Mill Hill missionaries notably Msgr. Brandsma who had a burning desire to start a teachers college for catholic schools. After a lot of struggle Yala School was opened in 1927 making it one of the oldest schools in Kenya.
It was noted[who?] that not many students were keen on becoming teachers and so it become a full primary school and junior secondary school that expanded to become the current St. Mary’s Yala, giving a chance to many African students to attend school. There is a strong history behind the school that over the years has given led to its growth from strength to strength.[citation needed]
There are between 700-730 students in attendance at the school each year and it has a teaching staff of 40.
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[edit] Academic strengths
St Mary’s Yala is notably recognized[who?] for producing the creme de la creme of Kenyan society. Most of the past and the current leaders in different spheres of life are proud members of St. Mary’s community.[who?] This includes ministers, priests, doctors, engineers, lecturers and teachers.[who?]
The school gives quality teaching and individual attention is given to the students. Many students from this institution gain places at various Kenyan universities both private and public. Others fit well in international universities.[who?]
The school has been ranked as the best 100 schools in the republic severally.[citation needed]
[edit] Facilities
The school has a library, which gives the students a limited range of reference books, periodicals and university prospectuses. The library has become inadequate because of the growing number of students and hence needs expansion more books.[citation needed] The administration block can be seen here :
The school has 16 classrooms, 13 dormitories, and offices and various subject rooms. The school has a quiet and a private guiding and counseling office, a well stocked careers department fitted with computers. It has a computer room that allows student to learn computers.
[edit] Student life
The student in St. Mary’s Yala become members of a friendly and supportive community. We[who?] have orientation for all new comers and form one’s each year. Student self discipline is highly emphasized. There is a guiding and counseling department, which helps the student to settle within the school system.
The student body is headed by the School Captain (Head Boy) together with prefects. The current Head Boy is Kevin Anthony Otieno.
The career department is always ready to assist students with their academic problems/choices, this helps the students to perform very well and also have harmony with each other.[citation needed]
There is an Old Boys Association "Yala Old Boys Association. (YOBA)". Which is a social gathering of old boys where it’s intended that they can change ideas and also network. YOBA also offers support to the school in various projects.
[edit] Co-curriculum activities
The school runs a very strong games department and hence St. Mary’s Yala, is renowned[citation needed] for the sporting excellence. The school offers various sporting disciplines in the sports, which include Rugby, athletics, soccer, Basketball, Handball, Indoor-games, Volleyball, Badminton and Hockey. The Rugby team won the national secondary school Rugby championship in 2003. The game master played the role of team manager with the experienced tactician Tim Okullu coaching the team. The school has featured in several finals of the same championship. In 2002 they took the National sevens crown and went ahead to dominate the 15’s tournament.
The hockey team has aggressively climbed up that ladder of success twice being losing finalists at the provincial stage of the competition in 2003 and 2005 under their coach Benson Keno.
Soccer and basketball have also had a fair share of success at both the district and provincial level. However the school’s favorite sport remains Rugby which has conquered the national scene repeatedly for the past 10 - 15 years.[citation needed]
The games store and office is strategically positioned overlooking the Soccer/Rugby field. The office boasts of all requirements for a comfortable office. The store is well maintained and has a variety of games and sports equipment.
In 2005 YOBA members of the Graduating class of 1993 organized the inaugural Kwame Adhu Soccer Tournament.The tournament is aimed at fostering Camaraderie between different schools in Siaya district.
[edit] Clubs and activities
The school runs a number of clubs such as:
Journalism, Debating, Young Christians society, Christian union, French club, Straight talk, Aids Club among others. The clubs day is on Monday and the aim of clubs is to make a student member an all round human being.[citation needed] Journalism club also runs magazines yearly, thanks to the school administration.
[edit] Administrative structure
The school was headed by Mr. Marcellous K’ojwang as the Principal until 2005 when Mr. John Awiti replaced him in that capacity. Mrs. Rosemary Abuodha Omogo (Deputy Principal) deputizes him. Information is then deciminated through heads of departments to the teachers.
The school has undertaken several projects and some are complete like the new dining hall. Those awaiting completion include second phase of the dining hall, which includes refurbishing the dining hall and building of the departmental offices, the water project, and a sick bay for the students, a modern laboratory to be named YOBA HOUSE, and staff houses.
[edit] ALUMNI
The result of this commitment to excellence in academics, extra-curricular activities and personal development is that St. Mary's School Yala has produced leaders that have made immeasurable contributions to Kenya’s National development and increasingly, beyond. A prime example is Tom Mboya.
This tight-knit and influential alumni network continues to have significant impact in areas such as government, industry, academia, finance and agriculture. For examples of alumni impact both locally and abroad please visit: http://yala.epulseone.com/index.php
The alumni remain active in the school’s affairs through capital campaigns for bursary funds to assist some of boys from poor backgrounds who cannot afford fees, as well as in school development projects. There are currently chapters of Yala alumni and former staff in Kenya, USA, UK, South Africa and Singapore.
More information on the school and former teachers is available on the school website: http://yala.epulseone.com
[edit] References
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[edit] Contacts
ST.MARY'S SCHOOL YALA,
P.O. BOX PRIVATE BAG,
YALA.
Email:smy@africaonline.co.ke
Tel.No:+254-57-335007
