Showcasing Schools Innovation

 

We have added a new feature to our website called FEATURED SCHOOLS. This space is intended to be a display forum for schools across the region that have a positive story to tell about teacher and student initiative, about innovation or about entrepreneurship.

The challenges of 21 Century learning necessitate that our schools reinvent themselves. The school in our contemporary Caribbean must move beyond the black box to become a focal point for creative application of knowledge. It must forge stronger links to community and closer ties to the world of work. The school must be a place which – above all – nurtures dreams and opens new doors of opportunity.

This might sound like a lot of idealistic sounding and unattainable stuff but WE CAN DO IT!  This new space is to tell the story of those who are doing it. How do we grow dreams? – one possibility at a time. Beyond telling the story, we want this space to advertise these initiatives so that the schools can get the support that they need and deserve from all sectors.

The first story that we have to tell is the story of the Wood Turning Industry that the St. Joseph's Convent in St. Lucia has established. Convent girls guided by several teachers – Mrs. Jacqueline Sarvay, Alphia Emmanuel – are using local woods of all kinds to produce high quality pens and other corporate memorabilia at competitive prices. CXC will purchase a quantity of these pens for our corporate promotions and we encourage others to do the same.  Check out more on St Joseph’s Convent on our Featured Schools page.

There are many ways in which you can support school initiatives of this type:

• contribute time and expertise to advise, mentor
• provide professional assistance (and we applaud the free assistance given by Shelley Ann de Silva Harding of Creative One (https://www.facebook.com/creativeone.me) in the design of the SJC Woodturning Industries logo and promotional brochures; and Carleen Jules (http://carleenjules.com/co_profile.htm) for the donation of professional photography to her alma mater in capturing the students at work)
• purchase the goods or services provided by the schools
• spread the word, encourage the students and recognize the teachers who do these amazing things

We are also calling on everyone to recommend schools or initiatives which need to be highlighted and supported.  Please provide the information to our webmaster Simone Pasmore at spasmore@cxc.org.   We look forward to hearing from you and to broadcasting to the region and the wider world the amazing stuff that we are capable of.