SCHOOL COLORS

An education grad goes home for vacation. Then gets to work helping his old school.

BY JOE TOUGAS ’86

Nana Boakye with students in his old school, which he helped restore on a vacation home to Kumasi, Ghana in spring of 2021.

In the spring of 2021, the second week of visiting family in Ghana had Nana Boakye ’10, ‘15 heading to his grandmother’s home in the town of Kumasi when he saw a group of young children walking to school. One wore only a single shoe. Another wore no shoes at all. Another had no backpack.

As his heart sank, his eyes focused on what the children were wearing.

“I recognized those colors,” he said. “I recognized the school uniform.”

These students were indeed walking to the same school he attended years earlier. It prompted him to visit the school the following day and see if he could help with anything. The question upon arriving was where to start. Windows seemed the first priority—there weren’t any. School supplies were sparse as well. “They were lacking basic necessities,” Boakye said. He talked to teachers, took pictures and then jumped on social media, swiftly organizing an emergency fund- raiser for his old school and soliciting friends via Facebook and Instagram. Money poured in immediately. “Oh, man, I was at a loss for words,” he recalled. “I got lots of love and support from people. Ten dollars here, 15 here, 20 there. I combined all the money and by the end of the week I bought supplies and windows and cupboards to put their books in.” Within a week of seeing those few kids in his school’s colors, Boakye with the help of cousins and a carpenter had purchased, hauled and installed the windows and bookshelves.

Contributions had been so generous that money was left over, which he then used to help make improvements to the school his parents had attended. “I was able to roof that building for them,” he said. He has since formed a nonprofit corporation for area schools to go toward more improvements, from utilities and plastering to new playground equipment. “There’s a bunch of schools in the surrounding area that are even poorer condition than this one,” he said. “But I kind of want to focus on this one first. If I’m lucky enough to get more funds, then I could be on to the next school.” Boakye’s family moved from Ghana to Eagan, Minnesota when he was 10 years old. He attended Minnesota State Mankato partly to have a close-but-not-too-closeto-home school, but also because he wanted to get into education as a career. “I looked into the teaching program and what I know is it’s one of the most competitive ones and once you complete it you can land something,” he said. He received a bachelor’s degree in English and speech education, obtained a master’s degree in teaching English as a second language and today teaches in Arizona. His parents, uninterested in continued Minnesota winters, had moved back to Ghana when he started college. He’s pleased that his recent visit home prompted some improvements to the schools that were important to his family. “I was just going there to visit my parents, but this came along and I thought I’d take this opportunity and just help out,” he said. “I saw myself in these kids. I used to be in this situation. “So it touched home. And I decided to give back.”