Roots to Rise unites school and community actors to create a sustainable approach to improving learning outcomes. Teachers are engaged in a new teaching strategy, learning valuable new pedagogy. CEVs, change agents who are recruited from within the community, serve as trained aides in the classroom and community mobilizers who engage community members at home, at church, and around town. High quality implementation is also promoted through oversight from head teachers and government-employed CCTs. Fellows serve as the link between all of these participants. They ensure each actor fulfills their role, and becomes invested in the initiative. Fellows build these foundations that enable the impact to continue even after a Fellows’ placement has ended.

Roots to Rise is a radical departure from the static approach of typical Ugandan classrooms, where students sit at their desks and receive didactic lectures. Instead, Roots to Rise employs a child-centric approach, where students are free to explore activities for themselves, and manipulate locally-made learning aids which demonstrate key concepts. In each lesson, facilitators engage children in interactive games which make learning fun, and keep minds engaged.

By grouping children according to their learning level, Roots to Rise addresses reality; all students learn at different paces. In order to maximize every students’ growth, this approach allows facilitators to provide appropriate support based on students’ unique abilities and learning needs.