Operation Classroom has its roots in Indiana. The program took shape in 1987, led by John Shettle and Bob Bowman, the newly-elected lay leaders of the Indiana North and South Conferences of the United Methodist Church. Operation Classroom would partner with UM Church in Liberia and Sierra Leone, with the mission of:
1. Upgrading UMC secondary education in Liberia and Sierra Leone
2. Being an avenue of renewal for the United Methodist Church
3. Providing hands-on mission experiences for United Methodists. In 1989 a civil war erupted in Liberia, causing people to flee and schools to close.
Under the leadership of Joseph Wagner, OC responded to the new challenges by opening refugee schools in Ivory Coast and in Guinea. In 1991, the war spilled over into Sierra Leone. OC continued to work in those schools that remained open and eventually opened a refugee school in Guinea. Surprisingly, despite the wars, OC was able to assist in the construction of four schools in Liberia and one in Sierra Leone.
Thousands of persons were displaced or became refugees as a result of the wars. Operation Classroom responded to the requests of the UM Bishops of both Liberia and Sierra Leone, providing clothing and basic supplies to help those who were in desperate circumstances. The bishops also asked if we could assist in meeting the mounting medical crises brought on by the wars. OC responded by beginning a partnership with Ganta Hospital in Liberia and Kissy Clinic in Sierra Leone.
In 1994, Operation Classroom was asked to help train West Africans to counsel those suffering from war trauma. Thus, WATTS (West Africa Trauma Training Seminars) was born. Since that time more than 150 Liberians and 75 Sierra Leoneans have received a basic understanding of counseling, and in the process have learned how to deal with their own trauma. Operation Classroom has continued their partnership throughout the years of civil war, by shipping container loads of supplies, providing support for the schools and hospitals, and working with the displaced, refugees, and ex-combatants.
Following the war, OC continued its work with both schools and hospitals. Since a number of other UM conferences have become partners with Ganta Hospital in Liberia, OC has put more focus on Sierra Leone’s Kissy Clinic (now “Kissy UMC General Hospital”).
For over 30 years, the leadership of the UMC in Sierra Leone and Liberia has asked Operation Classroom in a variety of ways – shipping containers of supplies (primarily school related), helping improve health care at Kissy Hospital in Sierra Leone and Ganta Hospital in Liberia, and providing relief (food and funds for unemployed teachers) during the Ebola crisis.
After the war, most of what was once needed to be shipped became available in West Africa, and it made much more sense to contribute to the local economy by purchasing school supplies and textbooks in-country.
Major advances have been made at both Kissy UM Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and the Ganta UM Hospital in Ganta, Liberia. Both hospitals have become largely self-sufficient (which, of course, was the goal) or are supported by other agencies, and our efforts became more appropriate through providing a solid education.
In 2013 Operation Classroom leadership changed hands. Robert Coolman became the CEO of Operation Classroom. About this time OC began to shift its focus back to the mission of “Partnering with the United Methodist Church in both Liberia and Sierra Leone to improve secondary education” in part to make the overall mission financially possible. In 2019 Monty Barker assumed the role of CEO, while Coolman remained as the point person for The Taiama Enterprise Academy. The TEA was created in response to the invitation of the Sierra Leone UMC to provide an opportunity for young people to get an education that will improve their chances of being employed. In October, 2019, the Taiama Enterprise Academy opened its doors for a new kind of vocational education emphasizing entrepreneurship - project-based learning with the end goal of employment for the good of the family, community and country.