Just under 100 Fourth Form male students at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School, spent a full day at the annual ‘A-Men’ Seminar at the Mount Fortune Seventh-day Adventist Church on Thursday, January 23.
The event was organised by the school’s Guidance and Counselling Department, headed by Dr Samuel Daniel, with the assistance of a number of staff members and other persons working in close cooperation with his department.
A lively opening session of singing was led by teachers Emma Ferguson and Gavin Jean and was followed by the positioning of six breakout groups for the seminar.
The facilitators and subject areas were as follows: Mr Gavin Jean – Effective Communication; Pastor Phillip Gumbs – What it means to be a man; Healthy relations with girls – Pastor Dexter Welcome; Totally fit – Mr Louis Price; “I aint no punk” (Resolving conflict) – Pastor Gleason Brooks; and Sex and me – Pastor Trent Berg and Mr Ivan Connor.
In the afternoon there were interactive sessions conducted by Mr David Christmas, Mr Kevin Hanley, Mr Derick Carty, Mr Winston Duncan, Mr Bernard Wattley and Mr Curtis Richardson.
The seminar is held each year at the Mount Fortune Seventh-day Adventist Church where there are various areas with facilities, to accommodate the breakout groups. The newly-appointed Minister of the SDA Anguilla district, Pastor Trent Berg, welcomed the opportunity to assist in facilitating an important session of the seminar, and was of the view that the overall event was of much value to guiding the lives of the male students.
Dr Daniel said his department had recognised a need for this type of seminar for male students, at the school, who needed guidance and counselling in the subject areas outlined above. He was grateful to all the facilitators for their assistance, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church for accommodating the event.
