Waiting with a friend for the water taxi to Belize City .
Building where the Ministry of Education office in Belize City is located.
Inside the office.
The six school districts in Belize.
Lunch overlooking the Caribbean Sea.
Carol Babb, Deputy Chief Education Officer for the country of Belize: center of photo, blue shirt, glasses.
Rose Bradley, oversees literacy education for country of Belize: front row, white shirt.
Me, top left trying to get in picture!
A view of the Caribbean from the steps where the above photo was taken.
An Amazing Opportunity
In my last post, I spoke about how students in San Pedro have similar academic deficiencies as children in the U.S. Our group traveled to Belize City today and met with Carol Babb, Deputy Chief Education Officer for the country of Belize, and Rose Bradley who heads up literacy education for Belize. During our lunch meeting the needs the country faced became the topic of conversation. I have now spent time with teachers and administrators in east London, San Pedro, and Belize City and the theme remains the same; they all face similar challenges to educators in the U.S.As lunch continued the conversation turned to the educational partnership between UNCW and the schools in San Pedro. Carol Babb made the statement that she would like to see the partnership broaden from San Pedro to include schools on the mainland of Belize. What an amazing experience to be at a meeting in which a partnership in education was being formed between two countries. Not many folks can claim that experience! I believe we all left that lunch quite elated with talk of a partnership being the sweetest dessert.
All You Need Is A Piece of Rope
As we were walking back to the waterfront to catch the water taxi to San Pedro, we heard the excited screams and laughter of children. Being former classroom teachers with the love of children in our hearts, we were drawn to the schoolyard from where we were hearing the sounds. Dozens of children, boys and girls of all ages, were in teams taking turns in tug-of-war contests at the ends of a giant rope. No Olympic contest was more exciting and no party more fun than the time these kids were having! Once again another theme we have been living while here in Belize came to mind. You don’t have to have expensive resources and technology to teach and learn. And, you don’t have to have a fancy gym and equipment or an expensive athletic stadium for students to participate in sports…all you need is a piece of rope.
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