June 2017
Aloha from Hawaii, USA! Dear Colleagues,

I am Yunus Peer, a teacher living in Hawaii, USA, and working at Punahou School, alma mater of former President Barack Obama. I was born and raised in Port Shepstone (KZN-RSA), high-schooled at Waterford Kamhlaba (UWC) in Swaziland from 1971-73, and then left South Africa when my confiscated passport was returned by the authorities in June 1976.

We began this volunteer professional development project in Maths, Science, and Technology in 2001 with guidance from then Minister of Education, the late Professor Kader Asmal, and the sponsorship of Punahou School (Hawaii, USA) and the Cassim Peer Trust (RSA). A USA team of 4 facilitators shared content, methodology, and pedagogy with 75 of our colleagues from rural schools. Since the pilot project in the winter school holidays of 2001, more than 150 USA maths and science teachers have facilitated workshops with 5,400 South African colleagues, and the Department of Basic Education estimates that 1.5 million learners have benefited from their teachers' upgraded skills. TABSA has also dedicated 8 computer labs in 3 provinces, currently serving 4000 learners. In 2012, we began a school uniform project that has provided uniforms to 400 children in rural schools over the past four years and, most recently in 2016, TABSA began a rural school sanitary pad campaign.

In 2017, TABSA is partnering with the Dept. of Education in East London (Eastern Cape) and Bloemfontein (Free State) to conduct workshops for 660 teachers. We have a very diverse and talented team of professionals from all over the US, and I am grateful to them for their love and generosity.

TABSA is an all-volunteer organization. Our projects are supported by schools, churches, family and friends in both countries. Not a single TABSA administrator, staff, or teaching team member is paid for any services.

The curriculum content of this DVD reflects the new requirements of CAPS in South Africa. It also contains a vast library of materials from previous years. We trust that you will share this resource with your fellow colleagues. The contents of this DVD have been assembled by classroom teachers, for classroom teachers. It is distributed FREE of charge by TABSA, and is NOT to be bought, sold, or traded for profit.

With sincere respect for what you do in the classroom every day — Our future depends on it!

Mr. Yunus Peer, Director TABSA

Punahou School, Honolulu, Hawaii (USA)

www.punahou.edu/

ypeer@punahou.edu

Primary Sponsors of TABSA 2017:

South African Dept. of Education www.education.gov.za Teachers Across Borders www.teachersacrossborders.org Punahou School www.punahou.edu
First Car Rental, RSA: www.firstcarrental.co.za

Premier Hotels, RSA www.premierhotels.co.za
The Cassim Peer Family Trust, Port Shepstone, RSA
The Sheridan and Julia Ing Family Foundation, Honolulu, Hawaii.

TABSA 2017 Team:

Mr. Thokozani Mteshane – TABSA Assistant Director

Siyaphambili HS, Harding, RSA

t.mteshane@yahoo.com

Ms. Avishan Y. Peer – TABSA Coordinator

Mercy High School Spanish Teacher, San Francisco, California (USA)

http://www.mercyhs.org

avi6290@yahoo.com

Maths

Dr. Aviva Halani – Maths

Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire (USA)

www.exeter.edu

ahalani@exeter.edu

Aviva holds a B.A. from Wellesley, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Arizona State. Though her degrees are in mathematics, her research has focused on students' problem solving approaches to counting problems, instructional interventions, and student understanding of calculus concepts. She has presented her results at numerous conferences. In Arizona, she was a Math Content Expert for Adaptive Curriculum, an ed tech company that develops highly interactive digital math and science lessons, and taught at ASU. She has been teaching various courses from algebra to calculus to proof at Exeter since 2013.

Franklyn Lau was born and raised in Hawaii, USA and was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology. He is a former faculty member of Hawaii Baptist Academy in its middle school and high school, where he taught 8th grade Earth and Physical Science, Chemistry and Physics. Franklyn first participated with TABSA, on the 2011 Math team. He currently works as a Family Law Paralegal at the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, a non-profit law firm serving Hawaii's indigent population. Franklyn's passion for social justice extends beyond work and into his personal life: he resides in a community house that has helped in the transition and recovery of homeless individuals, survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence. For recreation, Franklyn loves to watch the Boston Red Sox and play ultimate frisbee.

James Metz is the heart of TABSA and its math team. Born in Springfield, Illinois in the USA, Jim is a retired high school and college math teacher with 42 years of experience. He has been a U.S. Peace Corps teacher trainer and past president of professional mathematics organizations in Hawaii and has authored a math book and several math and science articles. Southern Africa is a second home to Jim, who will be spending his 13th summer there, facilitating maths workshops with TABSA.

Dr. Richard “Rick” Jones – Science

University of Hawaii, USA

www.hawaii.edu

rmjones7@hawaii.edu