Princeton teen creates STEM and English program for students in Columbia

at a nice hotel, sightseeing. Going back became very important to me, but I wanted to make it impactful. So then this idea just kind of came into my head. I stumbled into it. And it was perfect. I would go back and share my love of learning.”

So Massad started an English and STEM program at El Instituto el Nino Jesus in Barranquilla, a K-5 school in Columbia.

That’s not a typo, not an exaggeration, not an oversimplification.

“The process started about a year-and-a-half ago,” Massad said, “I spent a good year developing the curriculum. I have a family member who’s a science teacher who helped me with the STEM part, but the English was all me. I read a lot of teaching blogs, read a lot of teaching books, collected a lot of resources. Then I spent a lot of time trying to get a school interested, and in March of this year I connected with El Instituto el Nino Jesus and there’s been so much progress since then.”

Yep. “Progress” is one word.

The 200-odd students in the school are learning about science and technology and learning how to read and write English. All because of Massad, period, full stop.

And on Saturdays, the older kids get a special twohour lesson via Zoom with Massad herself.

“We gave them two TVs so they could do that,” Massad said.

The seed money for the program came from Massad’s parents - “very generous and very supportive,” she notes - but since then she’s been fundraising for the program.

“I view English as a gateway for the students to thrive and help get them out of the economic situation they’ve in,” Massad said. “Knowing English will help them so much in the long term.” And the results so far? “They’ve been really lifechanging for these kids,” she said. “Actually, I think for both the students as well as myself.”

And this past year, as a result of starting this nonprofit (Educacion Sin Fronteras), Massad has been able to go visit Columbia for the first time since she was adopted.

“The experience has been amazing so far,” she said. “It was more than I expected. When I first walked into the school, the students were so excited to meet me. They thought I’d be a tall, blonde American girl. I’m not! And I heard one of the students tell her mom, ‘she’s normal, she looks like us!’ And she was right. I do, and I had never been in an environment where I looked like the people around me.”

It’s been a whirlwind for Massad, and it’s not anywhere near over, not for the students, and certainly not for her.

“I’ve always known I was adopted, and for children, it can be a big thing to carry,” she said. “At least it was for me. I’ve often felt out of place, like something was missing. I finally feel like now that gap is starting to fill in.”

But she’s not yet ready to find her birth parents and her siblings.

“I’m interested in meeting them, but a little scared,” Massad said. “I’ve been so fortunate. When I see them I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’ve been so lucky, and can probably assume they have not been. That would be so difficult. I’m not sure I could handle that very well.”

Very few people could, I’m sure.

But I’m equally sure very few people would take it upon themselves to teach a bunch of kids how to program computers and learn English. While it’s true Massad has been “lucky” with how her life has turned out, I’d say there’s 200 kids in El Instituto el Nino Jesus right now who are the true recipients of that luck.

And, quite frankly, we’re lucky to have such an amazing person living right here in our community.

If you’d like to help Massad in what’s quickly becoming her life’s mission, check out her website EducacionSinFronterasColombia.org.

TX Tagline:Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian. He can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian. com, facebook.com/jeffreyedelstein and @jeffedelstein on Twitter.

Anna Massad, 17, of Princeton (in black shirt) with students and teachers at the school in Columbia where she has created STEM and English programs.