Union Island students take part in Danny Scrubb Summer School

Despite the long summer break, schoolchildren on Union Island have been packing their pens and pencils and heading back to school. They have been attending the Danny Scrubb Summer School, now in its fifth year, which is taking place in a number of school buildings in Clifton, the island’s capital. Founded by teachers from the Caribbean currently residing in the UK, about 60 children have been brushing up their math and English and learning more about their culture. {{more}}

“Our goal is to build children’s self-esteem,” said Salena Gray, a primary school teacher from London, who is teaching at the school this year. “It’s not about teaching them their culture, but rather to encourage them to have cultural experiences,” she added.

A number of well known cultural activists on the island have delivered workshops at the school, including Roseman Adams, who delivered a workshop on the history of Union Island. It is hoped that the cultural exposure will help them in the grand finale, which will be taking place today at 1 p.m. at the Stephanie Brown Primary School in Clifton, where children will be dramatizing themes from the island, such as the Big Drum.

The school has also been sharing facilities with the St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Cadets, who are camping in the adjacent Clifton School. Sergeant James of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force has delivered a number of powerful addresses to students emphasizing the importance of discipline and putting God first in everything one does. Teachers have also been encouraged to ‘call the police,’ should their students happen to misbehave.

The important role that fathers ought to play in their children’s lives was the subject of a special parenting workshop, delivered by Calvin Jackson, from the reputable Barnado’s Charity, which is based in the UK.

With some children having never left the island, the school plans a trip every year often to another Grenadine island.

Salena Gray added: ‘We want children to see more and so this year, we’ll be taking children to Canouan. I think it’s really important that they can see things beyond their immediate horizon.’

The school is named after Danny Scrubb, who was a policeman in St Vincent and the Grenadines in the 1970s, before he moved to the UK, where he became an accountant. He was a major donor to the school. Subsequent funding has come mostly from Caribbean expatriates residing in the UK, Canada and USA.