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The school year kicked off on Monday September
4th bright and early. Students arrived at St. John’s Memorial School in
Placencia Village that morning in freshly pressed uniforms, laden with
new school bags full of books and smiles.
Returning to the teaching staff this year is Rosalind Eiley – Infant I,
Denise King – Infant II, Danilee Cadle – Standard II, Marita Rowland –
Standard III, Isaac Longsworth – Standard IV, Julie Kelly – Standard V,
and Rodney Griffith – Standard VI and Principal. David Vernon is the new
local manager for the school. The school is currently looking for two
new teachers to add to the staff.
Over the summer some improvements have been made at the school including
a new partition in the Standard I & II classroom and the addition of an
art workshop through the kind contributions of the Placencia Peninsula
Art Association. Look out for full coverage on the opening of the Art
Workshop in future issues of the Placencia Breeze.
Student population of the school has grown to 232, a substantial jump
from last year. To accommodate this growth other projects are in the
works including school expansion and teacher training and additional
teacher recruitment. Of course all these things take time and financing
but school administration is optimistic about reaching these goals.
In related school news the first Parent Teachers’ Association meeting
was held on the evening of September 14th. Along with discussing the
rules of the school and the improvements that have taken place parents
and guardians were brought up to date with the school’s and the PTA
accounts.
Principal Griffith announced the plans for the first term as well as the
need for volunteers for existing school activities including library,
computer lab and sports and for future clubs such as art, drama,
literary, cooking and journalism clubs. Individuals that would like to
help at the school should contact the school at 523-3178 or stop by and
in the case of the library should call Deb Vernon at 523-3207 or Fiona
Macfarlane at 523-3614.
The executive board of the PTA also underwent changes. Longtime
chairwoman Jodie Yearwood Leslie has stepped down from her post to take
up the position of past chairperson. While it sounds as if she got off
easy, Principal Griffith has given Ms. Leslie life time membership as an
honorary PTA member and asked her to join him on the administrative team
along with Mr. Vernon. The new PTA board is now Elysia Dial * -
co-chair, Linda Garcia ** - co-chair, Fiona Macfarlane ** - Treasurer,
Lloydia Westby ** - Assistant Treasurer, Ilsa Villanueva ** - Secretary,
Teacher Rosie Eiley * - Assistant Secretary and Jacqueline (Betty) Neal
* - Councilor. (* Former PTA member, ** New PTA member). Special mention
also needs to be given with thanks to Jodie and Betty for all their hard
work and dedication to the PTA and the school for countless years. The
children, parents and teachers can not thank you two enough for your
heartfelt assistance.
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 This
month, St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic School in Seine Bight Village opened
its doors to a brand new preschool. The sixteen by twenty four foot wood
structure holds two classrooms for students three and a half and four
years old. Sixty children attend this school, half attending in the
mornings, and the other half in the afternoons. The preschool employs
two full-time teachers. This project has been a challenging miracle for
all those involved in it.
Last year, the preschool was held in the computer lab of St. Alphonsus
School, providing the youngest students with space, but depriving its
older students classes in the fundamentals of computers. The population
of the school has more than doubled in the past two years, from 250
students to over 500. The school parents, the Ministry of Education, and
the Catholic Mission decided that a separate preschool was necessary.
But, as with all projects, funding became the major issue.
Ellis Guzman, PTA chairman for the past three years, spearheaded the
fundraising, working at it diligently for the past year. As difficult
and trying as the process was, he found financial supporters in various
private sectors of the community.
By August of this year, they had raised sufficient funds. Construction
of the preschool began in mid-August, and in only two weeks, this
amazingly bright new quality construction building was finished just in
time for school to open.
It is easy to feel the excitement of the young ones as they enter their
new school. Overhead fans circulate the air, and plenty of louvered
windows allow the fresh lagoon air into the classrooms. There are
benches, a table, and small chairs in each classroom. The interior rooms
are painted bright purple and green and are cheerful and clean. When
asked how they liked their new school, the preschoolers chimed in with
enthusiasm that they liked it a whole lot!
This miracle took the coordinated efforts of many individuals and
businesses. Ellis Guzman, Norman Moody, Glen Ramirez, and Fred Castillo
built the preschool in an incredibly record breaking time, donating part
of their labor to the cause. The Seine Bight Water Board was the biggest
donor ($5,000). Adolpho Williams, Water Board Chair, admitted, "It was
an easy and unanimous decision for our board to make. It was for our
children. We support the preschool project 200%!"
Steve Christensen of Professional Building Supplies donated all the
roofing materials and floor/foundation framing. Other donations came
from Nautical Inn, Laru Beya, B.C.V.I./ Drs D.D. & John Aronian,
Mainstay (Drew and Karen Travers), P.A.C.T., Brodie's, Augusto Quan,
William Quan, Regan International, and Seine Bight Village Council.
More work is still needed. Four bathrooms need to be added. A fence
around the school would insure the students their security from
strangers walking around the grounds and from vehicles using the land to
turn around. And, of course, what would a school be without a
playground?
The community would love to include three year olds in the preschool,
but that would require additional space. According to Guzman, they are
already planning an expansion, perhaps beginning in February or March,
2007. But, as always, they need to address the financial issue all over
again.
The writer of this article would like to personally comment upon the
good spiritedness that seemed to prevail in this project. In all the
interviews with various people, there was a willingness on everyone's
part to share the praise with others. This project, as everyone reminded
me, was the efforts of many people. Ellis Guzman says he could not have
done his job without the involvement of Clive Zuniga, St. Alphonsus'
principal. "Clive doesn't wait, he gets things done."
When speaking to Mr. Zuniga, he sincerely praised Ms. Lopez, the
assistant principal, St. Alphonsus School. "Ms. Lopez has made my
transition here so much easier."
As Guzman so honestly states, "There have been plenty of challenges,
yes. But when I see our children walking into their school, I know it
was all worth it."
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