Students at Campus B of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School have had a rare opportunity to be addressed by two of Anguilla’s parliamentarians on matters of particular interest to them and their studies.
Members of the Anguilla House of Assembly at the school were Ms. Palmavon Webster, Elected Representative for District 1 and Leader of the Opposition; and Mr. Cardigan Connor, Elected Representative for West End and Parliamentary Secretary, Tourism and Sports. They were escorted and introduced Mr. Joash Proctor, Clerk to the House.
Mr. Proctor told The Anguillian that the parliamentarians were taken to Campus B on Thursday, October 29, at the request of Form 2 Teacher, Ms. Verlyndah Rogers. She was conducting a session on civics and the branches of government and wanted their assistance. “She initially wanted to come to the House of Assembly but we were not meeting at that time, so I suggested that I could bring some of the members to her classroom instead,” Proctor explained.
“It was also an opportunity for me because one of the things I want to do is to increase the awareness of the public about the work of the House of Assembly. When the request came up, I saw it as a chance to get started on what I envisioned and to create a model for the future. So I got somebody from the Government side and somebody from the Opposition side to provide some balance – and it worked out nicely for the gender balance as well.”
The House of Assembly’s Clerk was pleased that Ms. Webster and Mr. Connor had taken up the challenge. In his words, “I got them to come in and talk about their experiences and what they do in the House of Assembly; give the students an overall view of Government in general – the branches of Government, the House of Assembly and how it is constituted, among other matters.”
Both Ms. Webster and Mr. Connor expressed their personal delight to have had the opportunity to address the students who showed a great deal of interest in the discussions, and asked a number of pertinent questions.
