The 400-odd students at The Valley Primary School, as well as their teachers, turned up there on Monday morning, February 10, the date for the handing over of a multi-purpose and colourful gazebo on the southern side of the premises.
Painted in the national colours of Anguilla, it was built as an Anguilla Community Effort (ACE) project involving a number of persons with support from the Governor’s Office, the Ministry of Education and a number of businesses.
Minister of Education, Mrs. Cora Richardson Hodge, told the students: “This gazebo was built – not by the Government of Anguilla, the Ministry of Education in particular – but by members of your community. People from throughout the community got together and decided that they wanted to do something good for Valley Primary School. They realised that you did not have anywhere to sit down and eat, and so they volunteered to build this gazebo for you. Let us give them a round of applause.”
She continued: “When they came up with this brilliant idea, they came to the Ministry of Education and we supported their efforts. We told them it is a great idea, and so part of the reason we are here today is to recognise their effort. The other part is to hand over the gazebo to you, the children, and the teachers to use. We expect you to be careful. Don’t mark or write on it. Use it and respect it because a lot of people put a lot of time and effort into building this for you.”
Governor Tim Foy, OBE, said it was extremely important culturally, socially and for learning, to have facilities like the gazebo where children can talk to each other outside the formal teaching classrooms. Secondly, he thanked the entire team of Anguilla Community Effort. He observed that a school was not just a building, a place where parents drop off children to be educated by dedicated teachers. “That is an important aspect but, fundamentally, a school is part of the community and particularly a primary school,” he pointed out. “I have seen that in Anguilla with the seven primary schools – just how much those primary schools are loved by the communities in which they sit, the way in which parents and children build very strong bonds to their primary school.”
Governor Foy added: “The sense that the community want to give back to the school where they may have gone to, or their children may be going to now, is absolutely critical to that spirit of ‘Anguillianess’ – that people work alongside of each other to do something for the children.”
President of ACE, Mr. Cardigan Richardson, said the grouping was a non-profit organisation and that the school’s gazebo was one of its first projects. He stated that “it was a nice collaborative effort,” with support from various sectors in the business community, the construction team, and other persons including the lead contractor, Mr. Horace Brooks. He had a special thank you for the Governor’s Office for sponsoring the project. “We look forward to doing other projects in the future and the continued support of all,” he concluded.
Community Services Planner, Mrs. Hyacinth Bradley, joined in praising the provision of the gazebo and its usefulness to the school.
The other speakers were Mr. Horace Brooks who spoke about the teamwork in building the gazebo; and the Principal of the School, Mr. Michael Skellekie. He was grateful for the gazebo and appealed to the students to take care of it noting that, apart from serving as a place to eat, it could serve for school meetings, among other services.
The handing over ceremony was chaired by Mrs. Aunika Webster-Lake, a parent, who also gave the welcome remarks; and the gazebo was blessed by the Rt. Rev. Errol Brooks.
The Vote of Thanks was delivered by Mr. Romare Kelsick, a member of Anguilla Community Effort. He expressed gratitude to a long list of persons for their work on the gazebo – and general support.
