Principals play an important role in the success of education because principals have the authority in determining the learning policies in respective schools. Therefore, any principal must have creativity, as well as governance and leadership capabilities.

To support improvement of the competency of school principals, Tanoto Foundation held training rounds in three provinces, namely North Sumatra, Riau, and Jambi, from March to May 2018. The purpose of this training is to enable principals to apply best practices in education to improve the learning process in the classroom.

This training was well received by local education office officials, school supervisors and principals. In the training in Jambi, school principals and school supervisors were trained to improve quality of the schools through the strengthening of active learning, reading culture, school-based management, and community participation.

“This training is very interesting, supervisors and principals will later on be able to develop the materials jointly in their respective schools. I plan to guide the principals in regard the implementation, “said Pahrawi, M. Pd, a supervisor at the Education and Culture Office of Tebo District, Jambi.

Elita, Principal of SDN 92/V Gemuruh, Tanjung Jabung Barat District, Jambi, said that the training was very beneficial for the advancement of her school.

“With this training, I can further improve parts of my work that need correction. In regard teaching and learning processes, I will encourage the teachers to increase the use of the learning media so that the children become more enthusiastic. Meanwhile, in regard the reading culture, I’ve the idea of establishing a reading ambassador in each class,” said Elita.

Meanwhile, in the training in Riau, principals were invited to learn to develop schools comprehensively. Apriliyanti, one of the participants from SDN 01 Pelalawan, Riau, said that the training was very beneficial for herself as a principal.

“This training taught me how to be a manager who is able to manage, develop, and evaluate the school’s resource performance. I also feel that the training is very helpful for me in performing my function as a principal,” she said.

In the meantime, the training in North Sumatra was more focused on the role of a school in creating the process of active learning and increasing the interest in reading in the school. According to Rodiah, Principal of SDN 014736 Karang Baru, Talawi, North Sumatra, this training helped her and other principals in implementing active learning as well as improving students’ reading interest.

“The materials provided in this training help us in implementing School Based Management by giving supports to teachers in applying active learning and implementing reading culture program. I will apply results of this training in my school so that our teachers can improve their characters in order to improve our school performance,” said Rodiah.

Precisely on Tuesday, February 20, 2018, Rianti, Grade V Teacher of SD (Private Elementary School) RGM Blok Songo, Kota Pinang, North Sumatra invited her students to undertake an experiment on how to break down white light into a rainbow. At the beginning of the lesson, Bu Rianti gave cards containing names of groups and each of the student searched for his/her group.

After the students formed groups, each comprising six persons, Bu Rianti explained to the students that they were going to learn how the material properties of light can be broken down into seven colors of the rainbow through an experiment activity.

Tools and materials given to students comprised flat mirrors, basins as water containers, and white cardboards. Bu Rianti led the students to the school ground that was exposed to direct sunlight. Before the experiment began, she invited the students to sing a rainbow song to make them more enthusiastic.

Then, each group was asked to fill the available basins with water. Bu Rianti guided the students to undertake the experiment by paying attention to her instructions.

“Insert the mirror into the water basin with the position of the group members facing the direction of the sun. See the refraction of the light into a rainbow from the reflection of the mirror onto the white paper in front of you, “said Bu Rianti.

The groups that have completed the experiment were then asked to observe the refracted light reflections into a rainbow and to note the resulting rainbow colors. Bu Rianti accompanied each group and assisted the students in conducting the experiment. Some groups have already been able to find the colors arranged in the rainbow. Oher groups that still encountered difficulty were guided by her to find the colors
“Yes, that is fine, children. You have already done an experiment on the occurrence process of the rainbow. In nature, rainbows occur due to the refraction of the light. So the sunlight that passes through the rain drops will be refracted through the rain drops, “said Bu Rianti.

Well, this refracting process that separates white light into spectral colors such as merah, jingga, kuning, hijau, biru, nila, ungu (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple) or abbreviated as mejikuhibiniu. Then the colors bounce behind the rain drops, which consequently causes the light to appear as curves into a rainbow,” she continued explaining.

After that all of the students returned to the classroom. Then each group was assigned to make a report of the results of the experiment conducted. After completing the experiment reports, Bu Rianti gave the students the opportunity to present the results of their experiment.

“A rainbow occurred when the sunlight that entered the water was reflected by a mirror onto a white paper so that the reflected light formed rainbow colors. The colors we saw were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and, purple,” so went the presentation of one of the group representatives. Other groups were also given the opportunity to do their presentations. Their presentations were similar to that of the first group.

From the students’ reports and presentations, it appears that the students were able to understand the refracting process of the white light into seven colors of the rainbow. They also claimed that they enjoyed learning Natural Sciences by way of direct practices.

“Before participating in Tanoto Foundation training, I mostly gave explanations about subject materials in front of the class, gave exercises, and assessed the students’ exam results. After having been mentored by Tanoto Foundation’s facilitators, I have many enjoyable models and learning methods for the students to make it easier for them to understand the subject materials taught, “said Bu Rianti.

It is not necessary to be a specialist to be successful, a generalist can also rise up to the peak of a career. That is what Leo Arifin Wibisono, a Tanoto Scholar alumnus from Institut Pertanian Bogor, has proved.

Leo, who graduated from Department of Food Technology of the Faculty of Agriculture Technology of IPB in 2013, currently serves as a Senior Manager at Indosat Ooredoo. Previously, he was involved in the field of consulting by joining several leading Singapore-based firms.

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Since his time in college, Leo aspires to be a management consultant. To become a management consultant poses a challenge to him, because by becoming one he can have a role as a problem solver in complicated problems within a company.

“I am happy to work with senior managers and help them solve management problems,” said Leo, who was awarded with 1st Winner of the Students of National-Level Achievements by the Minister of National Education in 2011.

To realize his dream, he took a gap year while in college. He utilized this pause period to focus on honing the skills needed as a management consultant, while at the same time to build a network.

For Leo, pursuing a career beyond the field studied in college is challenging. But he focused on developing the skills needed to succeed in this new field.

“As tips for other Tanoto Scholars, when we study in our chosen major, we also have to learn universal learning which can be applied in any field. At that time, I focused on learning how to think analytically as well as improve problem solving and communication skills,”

After graduating in 2013, Leo joined one of Singapore’s leading management consulting firms. It turned out that his generalist capability was very useful in the world of consulting in which he was involved. He was entrusted to handle the projects of several companies in Singapore, Indonesia, China and Australia.
The project he is most proud of was one that successfully managed the merging of two giant technology companies.

“A project involving merger and acquisition has a complex process because it involves a large number of stakeholders. The company concerned was only willing to work with the best banks, the best law firms, and so on. It was appealing to me because of the opportunity to work with the best people. In addition, 70-80% of projects that involve mergers and acquisitions usually end in failure. However, in this case, I am grateful to have helped them in the merger,”

After three years of being involved in the consulting world, in 2016 Leo returned to Indonesia and joined Indosat Ooredoo as a Senior Manager. Here, Leo gets a chance to build his own team and help young promising people develop their talents.

On the sidelines of busy work, Leo still takes the time to do social activities. He is still active as a volunteer at Young Leader for Indonesia by plunging himself to teach marginal children. He also provides free consultations for pilot enterprises and Small, Medium-Scale Enterprises.

“My capability in the field of planning turns out to be useful for small entrepreneurs in developing their businesses. In one smallest example, I can help them prepare a business plan for them to be used to seek additional capital, “

Success in your endeavors, Leo!