The Principal and staff of the Adrian T Hazell Primary School have found a way to refurbish the various facilities of the school – and to improve its grounds – by community participation through an active Alumni Association.
The source of the money is the Association’s fund-raising efforts, the first of which, a music fest, was held on the grounds of the school on Saturday night, September 7. The event attracted a large number of patrons from the surrounding community and throughout the island in general. An array of food stalls and a small entrance fee provided the main source of funds.
The A. T. H. P. S/Road Primary School Alumni Association, as the fund-raising organisation is called, represents the original name of the school in addition to its recent renaming in honour of the late Adrian T Hazell, a former Principal. The Association, as the name implies, is dominated by a number of past students now engaged in various careers on the island and who are desirous to see their alma-mater at a high level of maintenance.
A grateful Principal, Mrs Mavis Fleming-Drakes, said in part: “It is delightful to have all the community involved in the upkeep of the school. Right now the Government is in a crunch for money, but the community has come together, through the Alumni Association, to make sure that the school is up to par – physically, academically and in every facet of operation. This fund-raiser is to uplift the school and we have several things prioritised.
“The bathrooms and playground need to be revamped. We are trying to get a system of good drinking water for the children. There are many other needs and, as time goes by, work will be done on each project to uplift the school so that it will be a welcoming place for children. The aim is for it to a comfortable and enjoyable place of learning, making our children fit in the community both in Anguilla and abroad.”
One of the frontline organisers in the Alumni Association is Shauna Connor, a teacher at the school, who spoke in greater detail. “We formed this organisation because although the school is a Government institution it is still in dire need of assistance,” she stressed. “The Government can only do so much, so we decided to form a club in which past students can take part in refurbishing the school.
“Right now it is the Adrian T Hazell Primary School but the majority of past students claim that they did not attend that school. They attended the Road Primary School so we came up with the name A.T.H.P.S/ Road Primary School Alumni Association. We were supposed to start last year but it was a little bumpy so we decided to begin this year with a music fest and the launch of the Alumni Association. The committee members have been really eager about this event.”
Ms Connor went on: “In the first place, the school needed a face-lift and we decided to paint the building. We credited the paint with donations from such community members including Brian Hughes, Teacher Bertha’s family and Dennis Romney. We then got the Boat Racing Committee involved. The Stinger, De Tree and the Super Star crews each painted one building and Sonic will paint the fence.
“The areas for refurbishment – we are going to focus on from the money raised by the music fest – will be the rebuilding and fencing of the playground, placing filters on the water system to improve it and improvements to the bathrooms. Another problem we will be dealing with involves the bats in the roof. We also plan to erect billboards around the school to display the work of the children and the successes of our school.”
The music fest was presented in two phases. The first involved religious performances by a number of groups and individuals. The second phase saw secular presentations by various persons.
The performers included the FWD Dancers, News Dimension Dancers, the Lake Sisters, Oralyn Reid and Darwin Mussington,Gershyn Lake &the Parables, Cappromusic, Springer, Livingston Hughes, Mitchell Hazell, Ruel Connor, Jason “Gossip” Lloyd, Dynamite, the Musical Brothers and Pantha.
The programme was chaired by Haydn Hughes, the Government’s Parliamentary Secretary and a member of the Road Primary School Alumni Association.
