EHSM students, teachers return from one-week educational tour of Barbados

The Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia (EHSM) is ensuring that their fourth and fifth form students are exposed to experiences that will heighten their chances of doing well when they sit the CSEC examinations.

On Tuesday, April 14, 23 students and five teachers returned to St Vincent {{more}}and the Grenadines after a one-week educational tour of Barbados.

While there, students completed modules of their history and geography syllabi, with visits to several iconic sites that exist in the “Land of the Flying Fish”.

“It actually brings the subject alive. It’s one thing to sit in a classroom and talk about rocks and limestone formation, but to see it first-hand, it makes it exciting, makes the students understand the concepts better,” principal Curtis Greaves told SEARCHLIGHT.

“That is what we are trying to do; make our students have an appreciation for what they are learning in the classroom when they go on these educational tours.”

According to Greaves, students are not only exposed to academic opportunities, but they also develop socially, physically, academically and spiritually.

Geography teacher Sharina DeFreitas noted that students completed the limestone and coastal features aspects of the syllabus with visits to the Harrison’s Cave and to the eastern coast of Barbados, where a significant amount of coastal erosion and coastal landforms exist.

Meanwhile, Aiesha Samuel, who teaches history, told SEARCHLIGHT that students were able to cover the “Caribbean Economy and Slavery” section of their CSEC syllabus when they visited the Sunbury Plantation House, where they learned about the history of Barbados and its involvement in slavery, as well as the Barbados Museum and Historical Society and the Grenade Hall Forest and Signal Station.

“From last year, we had persons reporting that exactly what they would have seen and written about was the exact thing they saw coming back in their papers for CXC, so they were able to go all out answering those questions because they know it and saw it happen,” said Brian Maloney, who teaches Geography and was a chaperone on the trip.

While waiting for her daughter to exit the arrival lounge on Tuesday, Linda Simmons told SEARCHLIGHT that she feels that all parents, no matter the institution that their child attends, should take advantage of these opportunities when they present themselves.

“I am encouraging all parents when it comes to school and trips for their education, I advise them to put more interest on their children’s behalf. I feel very good about the trip because my daughter is studying geography and she is very bright in it,” she said.

This is the second educational tour that the EHSM has had and they intend to make the initiative an annual one.

Greaves extended gratitude to the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines, the National Lotteries Authority, GECCU, Kingstown Co-operative Credit Union, First Caribbean Bank, Scotiabank, Fast Cash, DeFreitas Associates, LIAT, St Hill Insurance Services, Log Enterprises, CK Greaves and Company Ltd, ECGC and all the other entities that contributed to making the trip a success. He also expressed thanks to the EHSM board, parents, students and Pastor Enric Connelly and his wife, Janet and Reverend Gerry Seale, who played a significant role while the contingent was in Barbados.(BK)