Adventures of Tom, Jan and Peanut: Schools I visited in the Abacos

Being a retired educator I was interested in learning about schools in the Abacos. I also thought it would be marvelous to try and set up pen pals between students in the Abacos and students from Kolling Elementary. While on a visit home I asked students from Kolling to write to Bahamian students and brought the letters back to the Abacos with me. Most islands appear to have both private and public school options. I chose to visit public schools. I also heard quite a bit about ECC, Every Child Counts in Marsh Harbor, a special education school and was very excited about visiting there. To date I have visited a primary school on Man-O-War and in Hope Town. The buildings were very simple and the classrooms small. Because of the small population on the islands both schools have multi-grade classes. Technology appears limited, I did not see computers in the classroom but honestly I am not sure if there would be room for anything but an IPAD or lap top. In both schools that I visited one of the teachers also served as principal. The children were very polite. When I entered two of the classrooms the entire class stood and greeted me with "Good morning welcome to our school". They wear uniforms and every sentence ended with mam or sir. The playgrounds had very little equipment and what they had was old. One of the playgrounds included hopscotch printed on the street behind the school. Children brought their lunch and ate at benches on a porch like area of the school. Several of the teachers I met were from the states. In one of the schools both the principal and one of the teachers had come over on their sailboats more than 15 years ago and are still here. I must admit having less then a dozen students in your class would make teaching here tempting. As I left one of the primary school I passed a new private high school. Some students were enjoying a snack break with their teacher on the front porch so I stopped and chatted. The teacher I spoke with is the teacher for students in grades 7-11. Fourteen of them. Next year they will have their first 12th grader and a graduation class of 1. I talked to the students about Lake Central High School for a few minutes, explaining that it has a population of almost three thousand students, then offered to try and find a few penpals for them if they were interested. My mind was on overdrive as I walked through the schools and talked with the teachers. The schools I worked in throughout my career had so much more but there was a common denominator, happy laughing, children. While in Green Turtle I met three parents who are active members of the PTO for Green Turtle primary school. All three of them moved to Green Turtle from various parts of the world because of the village atmosphere and back to basics life style. I talked with them about education opportunities in the Abacos. All three moms felt that they are able to supplement in areas their children need or are interested in through the Internet at home right now. Their children are between the ages of seven and ten. All three do plan on moving back to the states or their own country to make sure their children receive an education that will enable them to attend a college of their choice. Until about ten years ago children with severe disabilities such as Down Syndrome or autism did not attend school because they could not be accommodated. This changed because of the drive of Mrs. Lynn Majors, who worked with an area minister and a professor at Florida International University to establish ECC, Every Child Counts. The school is the only one in the Abacos serving children who cannot be mainstreamed. The are completely self supporting and have only this past year received funding from the government to pay for one teachers salary. There are 103 students that attend the three building complex. The classrooms are small and the only technology I saw consisted of about eight computers in an area outside the office. I visited with Mrs. Majors,founder and school administrator about their progress, hopes and goals. It reminded me so much of my first years of teaching in the early seventies. Technology was nonexistent, facilities simple and materials self made. In fact my first teaching job was similar to ECC. A complex of three buildings that was transformed from boarding school to special education school for students ages 5-18. As I visited the classrooms and strolled around campus the care the students showed for each other, the smiles they shared with us and the dedication of the staff made me tear up. I was reminded of how much I miss those early days of working with these very special children. Mr. Mars, worked with the oldest students,in a workshop type setting. Students were folding napkins around plastic ware and placing them in small bags for a local restaurant. He invited me to come back and visit his class after I was done with the tour. I went to get Tom who had been waiting with Peanut near the entrance of the school and the three of us went back to Mr. Mars classroom. We were introduced but of course Peanut was the most popular. We were encouraged to visit with the students and pitch in if we wanted. Soon after entering the classroom a young lady came in to get a little extra help on a math problem she didn't understand. Mr. Mars had Tom help her work through it. I enjoyed watching as they worked the problem on the blackboard. Tom was really enjoying himself. As we were leaving he looked over at me and said, I could do this. I love it. One of the stand outs in the class was Eric. He is 21 and lives on Green Turtle Cay. He rides the ferry to school everyday and was very proud to tell us about it. He also told us that he enjoyed spending his evenings on Facebook. We have met Eric's parents who manage a bar/restaurant here at Green Turtle and have had several great visits with them. If you would like to learn a little more about ECC visit their website, Every Child Counts Abaco.org