The Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School held its annual Speech Night programme on the evening of Thursday, December 10th 2020, at the Rodney MacArthur Rey Auditorium. The Master of Ceremony was Mr. Rudy Webster who was introduced by Teacher Amalya Adams.
Following was a prayer of invocation by Pastor Dwayne Adams, and the playing of the national anthem and the national song by the ALHCS Steel Orchestra and the ALHCS’s Concert Band, respectively. And the School Choir admirably rendered the School Song, “Our Eyes Have Seen the Vision”.
The Steel Orchestra, led by Michael “Dumper” Martin, brought Christmas cheer to the room through the lively performance of familiar Christmas music. Similarly, the Concert Band set the stage for a great night of spirited presentations with the rendition of “Happy”, as well as other well-appreciated serenades which helped to usher in this year’s spirit of the Yuletide.
Principal, Mrs. Rita Celestine Carty, said that the night was to reveal a report of the experiences of the school for the 2020 school year, but hastened to add that her presentation ws but a fraction of a much larger document. “This document,” she began, “is a public document available to all, and it will eventually make its way to the school’s website.” She explained that there were many sections of school activities that were detailed in the general report but that for the evening she would only highlight particular aspects of interest.
She stated: “The Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School operated this year from six sites, the
sixth and newest being the Special Needs (SEN) Unit 2 introduced in 2019-2020. This Unit caters for students who progress from the Special Needs Unit at Campus B, but are not able to be fully integrated into the Workshop Initiative in Secondary Education (WISE) or Form 3 at Campus A.
“This Unit should ideally be situated at Campus A, but space proved an insurmountable hurdle. The Unit was thus set up at Aukland House in The Quarter, the same building as DOVE 2.
The School thus operated from Campus B, Campus A, the Workshop Initiative in Secondary Education (WISE), the Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), DOVE 2 and SEN 2. The Sixth Form continued to be housed for the most part in rented space upstairs the Lake’s Building across from Campus A.”
Highlighting the physical structure of school buildings and acommodation, Mrs. Carty continued: “Much maintenance work was completed over the 2019-2020 school year to upgrade the available infrastructure particularly at Campus B. Of note is the fact that the very old carpet was removed from the staffroom and the space tiled. The extensive upgrade of facilities at the Campus B building were funded by the Governor’s Office through the Ministry of Home Affairs and Education. The work was supervised by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, Utilities and Housing.”
Mrs. Carty went on: “The Management of ALHCS included the Principal, three Deputy Principals, two Senior Teachers and the Coordinators of WISE and PRU. These make up the Senior Management Team (SMT).
“The year began with one new Deputy Principal in the person of Mr. Perry Richardson who replaced Mrs. O. Melsadis Fleming as DP, Campus B. Mrs. Fleming retired at the end of the school year 2018-2019. In October 2019, Mr. Worrel Brooks reached the age of retirement and was succeeded by Ms. Rebecca Haskins. Mr. Perry Richardson had previously served as Senior Teacher, Campus B on the SMT, and on his promotion this role was filled by Ms. Cherise Gumbs.
“The Middle Management Team is made up of sixteen (16) Heads of Department and five (5) Heads of Year. With the appointment of Ms. Cherise Gumbs as Senior Teacher, Campus B, Mr. Carl Whyte was appointed as Head of Year 3.
“A new Head of Physical Education, Mrs. Tricia Bennett-Lewis, was appointed to replace Mrs. Doreen Richardson who had reached retirement age in March 2019, but had been retained until the end of the 2018-2019 school year. Ms. Shanika Webster replaced Mrs. Vanessa Croft-Thompson as Head of English Department. Mrs. Croft-Thompson had relinquished her post at the end of 2018-2019.
“During the year, Head of Year, Ms. Michelle Queeley, now Dr. Queeley, transferred to the Anguilla Community College to take up the position of Dean of Studies.
“The management focal points were laid out in the ALHCS School Development Plan 2018-2020. This document, shared with all staff and other stakeholders, is considered a living document and was continuously revised to reflect feedback received from users and reviewers. The enclosed Work Plan was used to guide and report on activities and initiatives enacted during the year.”
Celestine Carty
Following the Principal’s Report, some 306 awards were presented to students who excelled in academics and other disciplines. These included 272 awards for outstanding academic accomplishments; 25 awards for music; 6 awards for excellence in the Leeward Islands Debating Competition; and 3 awards for outstanding achievement in the Environmental Club. Later, a longstanding teacher at the school, Mrs. Celestine John, was recognised on the occasion of her retirement.
As the event drew to a close, there were even more lively musical performances by the Steel Orchestra and the Concert Band, after which the Chairman, Rudy Webster, gave a few closing words. He noted that he was delighted that Speech Night this year was a reality through the hard work of the Department of Health and the Government of Anguilla. He emphasised how blessed we still are, in Anguilla, to actually have Speech Night in an auditorium, considering other places of the world where such events would be restrained due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Vote of Thanks was delivered by ALHCS student, Pierre Jai Lake.
– Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
