Mr Rodney Rey, a former Principal of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School, known for his candid opinions, has come out with a passionate statement that the Visual Arts SBAs, submitted by Fifth Formers for CXC marking, were of a very high standard. He indicated that the students deserved much commendation for their work and that, in many cases, they had surpassed expectations.
Mr Rey, now a part-time teacher at the school since his retirement, was among the appreciative spectators at the students’ visual arts exhibition. It was mounted at the Rodney MacArthur Rey Auditorium on March 20 and 21 with the well-attired students standing at their respective display booths.
“This exhibition reflects the variety of talent that the students at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School have,” Mr Rey told The Anguillian on the first day of the event. “It is an exhibition of high quality, and it shows that our young people are talented and that, although the school gets a lot of negative publicity, there is so much going on in the school that it is good for the public to be aware of,” he stated. “It is a pity that more adults did not come to witness the exhibition and to see the quality of the work of the students of our school. They are just sixteen-year old students and are already talented. This talent will be nurtured and I can see them producing higher quality work in the future. I am very proud of the students.”
Mr Rey served as Principal of the School from 1991 to 2000. “I am not back. I just do a little part-time teaching for one of the classes,” he went on. “By the way, I heard a young man from South Valley say: ‘how come they say Anguilla’s young people can’t do anything?’ He is a young man, himself, now working at a hotel, but was so impressed with the quality of work our young people have produced – and everybody needs to know that.”
When Mr Rey left his appointment as Principal, he went on to serve as Permanent Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office.
