~ St. Dominic High School’s Cultural Exchange Programme ~
St. Dominic High School is bidding farewell today to visiting students and teachers of five international high schools in Poland, Lithuania, France, The Netherlands and Lanzarote, Spain. The cultural exchange trip, part of Erasmus +, included a week full of activities for the visitors and their local hosts.
Activities, which included touristic highlights of the Dutch and French sides, allowed the visitors to explore the local culture, nature, and governmental establishments. An excursion on the first day of activities led the students to the Government Administration and Parliament buildings, where they were able to meet Prime Minister Leona Marlin and got to ask lots of questions about the local government system.
Interactive parts of the itinerary included exploring Waste Factory St. Maarten, which focuses on reusing and recycling waste as an artistic endeavour, helping to both educate the public on pollution and divert still-useful waste materials from the troublesome landfill.
Students and teachers also enjoyed learning to dance Soca, the Ponum, and Hip-Hop at National Institute of Arts (NIA).
Enriching education with cultural exchange works both ways, of course, as new communication skills, perspectives, and friendships formed between St. Dominic students and the visitors, who spoke varying levels of English.
The visit rounds off a series of exchange trips between the schools. Niek Boogaard, an international coordinator from The Netherlands, invited St. Dominic to join. Besides personal and educational development, the trip will also serve to help form an internationalisation policy for the school.
At the helm of the project for St. Dominic, Teacher Sinatra Rouse led a group of students to Lithuania last year on a similar trip of discovery, and has also visited Lanzarote for an introduction on her own. A fieldtrip to France had also been planned, but was put off in connection to the recent political unrest.
The visiting groups were warmly welcomed on Monday with a celebratory opening assembly complete with introductions and cultural performances attended by the entire school; Education Minister Wycliffe Smith; Head of Foundation Catholic Education St. Maarten SKOS, Lilia Aventurin-Hodge; and SKOS coordinator Jacky Green.
