BY: Deborah Reneau,
Vice Principal, Santa Elena
RC School
SANTA ELENA TOWN,
Cayo, Friday, July 29, 2011:
It has been exactly one year ago since the teachers at Santa Elena RC Primary School (SEPS) started a new venture of becoming Life Long Learners. SEPS partnered with NaRCIE in the person of Mrs. Abigail Wade from the Cayo District Education Centere along with Dr. Jennifer Morrow of Independent Day School in Tampa Florida, Dr. Bill Hopkins of SUNY, Cortland Belize and theBelize Natural Energy Trust (a partnership between the Government of Belize and the Belize Natural Energy Limited), in a Teacher Leadership pilot project. The aim is to provide continuous professional development, focusing on teacher efficacy and providing opportunities for immediate engagement and hands-on experience and evaluation. This was all done on location so as to afford that continued support, instruction and ongoing assessment
During the past year, we have been trained in Brain Based Instruction, Multiple Intelligences and Cooperative Learning models.
The strategies and techniques learned have allowed us to ensure that ALL learners are engaged, therefore providing an‘Inclusive’ environment. This program incorporates all the amenities of the “Quality Child Friendly Schools” Initiative as well it has provided the much needed on-going training for teachers. Through this program we have been able to keep up with current international trends.
Most of us have definitely honed our teaching skills and have built our teacher efficacy. For many teachers at SEPS, this program has been a blessing to us and is like a dream come true.Being a teacher of 18 years, I have never learned so much from a program than I have from the Teacher Leadership Program at SEPS.
Mrs. Abigail Wade and Dr. Morrow believed in us and gave of their personal time pro bono to ensure that we got the training we would need to make
sure that All students at SEPS would have a teacher of the year. The road was bumpy as with all good things in life. Funding for the project was challenging. We did not deter from our goals but pressed on even in the face of adversity and transition.
Through the efforts of our partners we were able to get some assistance for Mr.Manuel Medina, SEPS principal, to attend training in Tampa Florida in February of this year. Three teachers accompanied
him, sacrificing their families and finances in the hope of seeing first hand what a quality school should look like and to prove for themselves that the
strategies can work in any classroom any part of the world, in particular Belize. This was a turning point
for the program because the teachers were so rejuvenated and enthused by what they saw.
They were overwhelmed by the practicality of the strategies in particular Dr. Kagan’s Structures for Cooperative Learning.
The three teachers namely, Mrs. Clarivel Cocom, Mrs. Andrea Guerra and Ms. Jonelle O’Brien conducted in-service sessions with us, captivating our interest and propelling us forward to our next goal which was to send more teachers for training at the Kagan Summer Academy in Orland Florida.
A group of us were determined that we will reach the Summer Academy, even though we each needed to raise a minimum of BZ$4,000 to attend five days of workshop.
Things are very hard in Belize economically as well as all over the world. We did not know at the time how we would get that money but we were convinced that we will invest in our learning.
The group of 15 teachers soon dwindled to six of us. We had bake sales, food sales and clothes sales to assist us in defraying the cost. It was becoming very frustrating because we were not seeing the finances, yet, but we were determined that we will get the training.
We wrote many letters to numerous organizations but got the same reply that they would like to but cannot at the moment. I was thinking, so many other organizations and agencies get funding without a problem yet we had such difficulty to attract funding to improve our skills to educate the future leaders of our nation But we did not give up!
The group of us decided to go visit some businesses and guess what, we were able to get some funds. We are grateful and thankful to the different businesses namely: Shell’s Gas Station, Flames Auto World Rental and Sales, Cahal Pech Village , Bismillah Stores, Hodes Place, CC’s Gas Station, Codds Drug Store, Indita Maya Gift Shop, Western Home Supplies Joseph Mahmud, Delias Store and Idelmar .
Once we reached Orlando we walked approximately two miles to the workshop everyday but did not feel the distance because we were always engaged in what had happened the previous day in our sessions.
By the end of the second day the workshop had already surpassed my expectations and I was yearning for more information. The ideas were so practical, I cannot wait to share with my colleagues and other teachers.
Dr. Spencer Kagan and his team calls it the Instructional Revolution, “A Paradigm Shift”. I will call it the highway that can take us to the stars.Dr. Kagan’s Structures do not require more work of a teacher, only structured activities that will keep any child engaged. It’s All About Engagement and the M.O.R.E. Approach.
Thanks to the people that believed in us – Mrs. Abigail Wade, Dr. Jennifer Morrow, Dr. Joyce Swarzman of Independent Day School, BNE Trust, Mrs. Shirlene Minge (Nominee for Presidential Award in Idaho) for giving of her time to have a workshop with us , Mrs. Nayani and Alberto August for including our articles in their newspaper and last but certainly not least the students and parents of SEPS. I am also grateful to Dr. Spencer Kagan for awarding me the scholarship for the Summer Academy.
We are hopeful that many more teachers would be able to attend these workshops. Marie Fernandez , Gloria Jones and Deborah Reneau took one week of Cooperative Learning, Andrea Guerra and Evangelina Uck took one week of Multiple Intelligences and Differentiated Instruction and Abigail Wade took Corporate Meetings and Instructional Coaching .
This year at SEPS we hope to refine what we have learned and try to perfect our teaching. we will make sure that -It’All About Kids!
