The traditional celebrations of July 3 and 4 were topped off Saturday with artistic interpretations of Virgin Islands history and culture by high school students at the National Park Service’s historic Steeple Building in Christiansted.
“Packaging St. Croix” is an educational program conceived and created by NPS educator V. Celeste Fahie over the last three years with the support of David Goldstein, chief of interpretation and education for the NPS.
“Basically, we’re exposing kids to some life skills – with a culture and history angle – and hope over time we will garner grants to offer support to heritage and history tourism,” Goldstein said.
One mission of the NPS on the federal level, said Goldstein, is to build a new generation of stewards for the territory’s natural resources. The NPS foundation helped fund the program and will help provide two internships for students who complete the program.
“The government can protect it, but the government can’t take care of it. We haven’t instilled it in our youth. There are a tremendous number of community advocates, but not in the schools,” Goldstein said.
The result of the first program is an exhibit of more than 120 pieces produced by students at the St. Croix Educational Complex throughout the school year. More than 14 classes participated in the project – 700 students were impacted and more than 300 students took part in multiple activities, Fahie said.
The students created masks, drawings, essays, haiku poems and brochures highlighting what St. Croix and the territory means to them. The written work featured biographies of notable individuals who have contributed to the community and information about historical sites. Biographies were written on current teachers, students and even popular musician Mada Nile as well as former educator Bertha Boschulte, entrepreneur Casper Holstein and professional baseball player Joe Christopher.
“They wrote about who made a difference in their lives and who made a difference in St. Croix,” Fahie said. “I wanted them to realize and understand what St. Croix means – not just hear it. I wanted them to see everything. They live here and just learned history. They needed to experience it.”
Deon St. Jules wrote an essay about a relative, Tysha St. Jules, who is an environmentalist.
“She doesn’t talk about herself so I did it,” he said.
As background, students visited Columbus Landing and Buck Island, the forts in Christiansted and Frederiksted, and kayaked in Salt River bay to learn about the bioluminescence bay.
“Bioluminescence is living lights connected to Salt River,” St. Jules explained.
The exhibit included drawings by Complex students and Danish students of well known buildings. Ceramic masks depicted faces seen during carnival and faces worn by jumbies, mocko jumbies and practitioners of obeah.
Five Complex teachers instructed the students. Sayeeda Carter, speech teacher, Elise Menzies, history teacher, and others taught students to explain the display and its components. The art teachers were Albert Hazard, Yemaya Jones and Fahie.
.jpg "Mocko jumbie masks created by students from St. Croix Educational Complex were part of the 'Package St. Croix' exhibit Saturday at the National Park Service's Steeple Building.")
The exhibit will be displayed in the Steeple Building until the end of summer. It’s open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Then the show will move to Fort Christianvaern and other locations around the island. The exhibition will be open during Jump Up Friday.
Next year, a new group of students from Central High will take part in the program, Fahie said. Sixteen of those who completed the course this year – the first stewardship ambassadors – will continue to learn public speaking, self confidence and history. Melanie Johannes-Titre, chief executive officer and founder of the Inner Changes, said her youth program will work with NPS to prepare the youth for tourism-based careers.
During the Saturday opening, some of the Inner Changes stewardship ambassadors conducted tours of the exhibit and talked about the displays.
Stewardship ambassadors Michel Jean Baptiste and Lamar Miller, both 15, identified sugar mills, forts and other historic buildings replicated by classmates. They discussed the brochures, paper shirts, essays and masks created during the project. Jean Baptiste, who moved to St. Croix from St. Lucia less than two years ago, said he liked the program because he learned a lot about the island.
“It was fun going to different places and learning history,” he said.
Nisha Lazare, 10th grade, explained the blog created by students after learning about the island’s history, wildlife, agriculture and early residents. They discussed Buck Island and the coral reef, “so fishers don’t come and mess up the reef.”
The Park Service plays a role in the Virgin Islands society, government and history, according to Goldstein. The “Ticket to Ride” program, funded in part by Disney over the last two years, allows every fifth grader on St. Croix to visit Buck Island. A new program will send every sixth grade student to explore Salt River. The Department of the Interior and Coca Cola also support local NPS programs financially, Goldstein said.
The Christiansted Community Alliance held a vintage and collectibles fair Saturday at Limpricht to tie in with the NPS event and gather interest in forming a Friends of the National Park Service organization. Mary Dema said the vendors, artists and non-profit organizations were not competing with local businesses but the bazaar-like event was to make people aware that the park on King Street can be reserved by the public through the Sports, Parks and Recreation Department.
The Alliance has decorated more empty storefront windows – this time on Strand Street. Dema said volunteers are needed to form the non-profit Friends group, help with the beautification and revitalization of Christiansted and set up events. The alliance can be contacted on Facebook.
