Several years ago I went to Europe with my friends Linda and Jayne. We saw the London Eye, The Arc de Triumph, the Mona Lisa, and we rode the underwater train. We also saw the Waterworks Park in the Netherlands. Water is a problem there – holding the sea back is an everyday fight and they are the leading world experts on building dams. We American’s forget that we don’t always have the answers; it was the engineers in the Netherlands that were called upon to study the New Orleans problem. The dam is an impressive structure, but almost equally impressive is the educational facility that shares the massive dam structure. It is filled with information. There is a 3D video where we wore those crazy cardboard glasses with green and red cellophane lenses; there were exhibits and interactive stations designed to teach the technology and the effort that goes into keeping their land above water.
As I wandered through the facility, I turned a corner and there was something quite curious. There were several life sized black and white posters. They were big and imposing and I was startled when I turned that corner. They were pictures of African children playing on a dirt field. They had large sticks and they were moving old tires through the field, dust flying and smiles on their faces. A child’s game so life size that I could almost hear their screams of joy. How curious! Standing next to the posters was a woman who was waiting for my question. I’m sure she was asked a million times daily, “Why are these posters here? What does this have to do with anything we are learning?” When the answer came, it was one of those defining moments in my life; one of those moments that would stick in my memory because the answer was so profound. The woman smiled and gave a very simple answer, “We may have too much water, but we must remember that there are those that don’t have enough”. Wow!
Why do we whine so much? When we need something, the first thing we demand is money. Throw money at our educational system and all our problems will be fixed. Right? The educational system in Saint Lucia has problems. They have very little resources. Textbooks are difficult to come by and many that they do have are badly out of date. There is very little technology including televisions, DVD players, and computers at the primary school level. The teachers have limited formal education – at most an Associates Degree and a teaching certificate. There is no air conditioning in the classrooms and the noise level is extreme. This is hardly an environment conducive for learning.
One primary school I visited this week has done something about it. With only a few cans of paint, a little plywood, a few seeds, and the helping hands of the village, they created a school that is fun, happy, and filled with physical and mental activities that immediately make children think. The middle of the courtyard is filled with physical education activities. They have large dice that children throw. They must add the numbers on the dice and then they advance throughout a large playing “board” painted on the asphalt. There are spaces that say “Go back three spaces” or “advance two spaces”. There are games where you Jump the Letter and a Wheel of Fortune game where children must form words. 
I couldn’t resist hopscotch and found it so much more difficult than when I was ten years old. There is a large clock on the wall where children can move the hands to change the time. 
There is a reading room painted with bright colors and words on the walls and filled with books and comfortable chairs and even a lumpy bed with large pillows for comfy reading. There are toys that teach math as well as reading. Yhatzee, bingo, and other games are used for teaching. Outside there is a garden where children not only learn to grow vegetables, but learn math when planting the seeds. The fruits of their labor are transported to the cafeteria where they learn good nutrition. The leftover vegetables and fruits are sold to the community. This year they made $300; money that can be used to further improve their school. This was one of the happiest schools I’ve seen in awhile. Like the people in the Netherlands, they are grateful for what they have.
As I wandered through the facility, I turned a corner and there was something quite curious. There were several life sized black and white posters. They were big and imposing and I was startled when I turned that corner. They were pictures of African children playing on a dirt field. They had large sticks and they were moving old tires through the field, dust flying and smiles on their faces. A child’s game so life size that I could almost hear their screams of joy. How curious! Standing next to the posters was a woman who was waiting for my question. I’m sure she was asked a million times daily, “Why are these posters here? What does this have to do with anything we are learning?” When the answer came, it was one of those defining moments in my life; one of those moments that would stick in my memory because the answer was so profound. The woman smiled and gave a very simple answer, “We may have too much water, but we must remember that there are those that don’t have enough”. Wow!
Why do we whine so much? When we need something, the first thing we demand is money. Throw money at our educational system and all our problems will be fixed. Right? The educational system in Saint Lucia has problems. They have very little resources. Textbooks are difficult to come by and many that they do have are badly out of date. There is very little technology including televisions, DVD players, and computers at the primary school level. The teachers have limited formal education – at most an Associates Degree and a teaching certificate. There is no air conditioning in the classrooms and the noise level is extreme. This is hardly an environment conducive for learning.
One primary school I visited this week has done something about it. With only a few cans of paint, a little plywood, a few seeds, and the helping hands of the village, they created a school that is fun, happy, and filled with physical and mental activities that immediately make children think. The middle of the courtyard is filled with physical education activities. They have large dice that children throw. They must add the numbers on the dice and then they advance throughout a large playing “board” painted on the asphalt. There are spaces that say “Go back three spaces” or “advance two spaces”. There are games where you Jump the Letter and a Wheel of Fortune game where children must form words. I couldn’t resist hopscotch and found it so much more difficult than when I was ten years old. There is a large clock on the wall where children can move the hands to change the time. There is a reading room painted with bright colors and words on the walls and filled with books and comfortable chairs and even a lumpy bed with large pillows for comfy reading. There are toys that teach math as well as reading. Yhatzee, bingo, and other games are used for teaching. Outside there is a garden where children not only learn to grow vegetables, but learn math when planting the seeds. The fruits of their labor are transported to the cafeteria where they learn good nutrition. The leftover vegetables and fruits are sold to the community. This year they made $300; money that can be used to further improve their school. This was one of the happiest schools I’ve seen in awhile. Like the people in the Netherlands, they are grateful for what they have.
1 comment:
Are you talking about Belle Vue Combined? It certainly looks like it. I was very impressed when I visited (I'll be working there part of the time), and it turns out that the principal, Ms. Poleon, is the driving force behind that wonderful learning environment.
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