{"id":43574,"date":"2026-02-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=43574"},"modified":"2026-02-14T16:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T21:40:07","slug":"tartan-spotlight-furaha-henry-jones-fosters-connection-in-the-classroom-and-across-the-globe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/campus-life\/2026\/02\/16\/tartan-spotlight-furaha-henry-jones-fosters-connection-in-the-classroom-and-across-the-globe\/","title":{"rendered":"Tartan Spotlight: Furaha Henry-Jones fosters connection in the classroom and across the globe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Furaha Henry-Jones is the definition of a polymath. She is a writer, poet, parent and community leader, but thinks of herself as a teacher first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI teach and I write,\u201d she said. \u201cI write mainly for myself and figuring out how to move through the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She began at Sinclair 20 years ago after already working extensively with youth. She taught for 12 years at Kettering Fairmont High School before starting at the college, and was a founding staff member at Mound Street Academies, an alternative school for young adults<\/a> in downtown Dayton.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Kettering Fairmont High School, where Henry-Jones taught for 12 years before starting at Sinclair. <\/strong>WKEF<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThat was kind of cool to be part of starting a school from scratch,\u201d she said. \u201cMy students were taking some Sinclair classes, and that\u2019s how I became more familiar with Sinclair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry-Jones wears many hats at the college. She primarily teaches English Composition; once a year offers African American Literature; leads projects through Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL)<\/a>; and takes special enjoyment in her role as advisor for the African American Students Association (AASA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[AASA] are a really eclectic group of folks,\u201d she said. \u201cThey embody everything I want to be when I grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“[Founding the Ubuntu Study Abroad program] is the thing that I\u2019m most proud of, that I\u2019ve done here at Sinclair.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>– FURAHA HENRY-JONES<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Henry-Jones also serves on the leadership team of the Internationalization Lab and co-founded the Ubuntu Study Abroad Program with Professor Faheem Curtis-Khidr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the thing that I\u2019m most proud of, that I\u2019ve done here at Sinclair,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry-Jones has experienced the benefits of going abroad since she studied in Spain at a young age. As part of the program she has led groups of students on trips to Ireland and South Africa, where they gain valuable insight into how many similarities they share with citizens of other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInterestingly, the very first time I left the United States was the first time that I felt American,\u201d she said. \u201cAs a Black person in the United States, so much of the history and the experiences that I had were alienating\u2026 It still felt like, okay, am I really from here? Do I really belong here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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