March 2, 2002 – The Environmental Association of St. Thomas-St. John will hold the first of its annual whale watches on Saturday, March 9, and Sunday, March 10.
"They are seeing a lot of whales right now," said Kelly Kiernan, event coordinator. "The submarine has seen a couple and the divers are hearing them –– they are definitely in the area."
Each winter humpback whales migrate through Virgin Islands waters, seeking a warm place to mate and nurse their calves. They are most often spotted in late February and March.
The EAST whale watch begins at 8 a.m. at the National Park Dock in Red Hook. This year's whale watch will be held aboard the Jolly Mon catamaran.
"We have had our most spectacular whale watches aboard Jolly Mon," Kiernan said. "Captain Mark is great at spotting the whales. The catamaran gets us around fast and it's a very stable ride, for those who tend to get seasick."
A whales expert and experienced nature guides will be aboard sharing information about offshore cays, sea birds and marine life. The catamaran will make at least one stop for a swim and snorkel and will return to the dock around 4 p.m.
Kiernan urged those interested in making the trip to get tickets as soon as possible, as the excursions typically sell out in advance.
"If this is something you have always wanted to do, do it this year," she said. "It is just a breathtaking experience to see a whale up close."
Tickets for EAST Annual Whale Watch are $55 for non-members and $45 for members. They are available at Dockside Bookshop in Havensight Mall and East End Secretarial Service in Red Hook Plaza. For more information call 777-8633 or 777-5012.
OUTRAGE PAINFULLY ABSENT IN FACE OF DECAY
Some 30 years ago, on the day before Thanksgiving, 200,000 cars drove into The New York borough of Manhattan. Public officials were stunned and concerned but didn't do much. In 2002, on any given day, more than 800,000 vehicles clog, pollute and reduce the quality of life in Manhattan.
If those 800,000 cars and trucks had appeared on the day after Thanksgiving 30 years ago, they would have constituted a major crisis, and strong action would have been taken. But the situation deteriorated day by day, giving people time to adjust to their diminished circumstances, the longer commutes, the constant horn blowing and the impossibility of parking.
Imagine that on a certain date in the mid-1970s, the streets and communities of the Virgin Islands suddenly became crime ridden and violent, that the schools basically stopped educating children, that rumors of government corruption were everywhere, that public services were delivered at a level that would embarrass any other jurisdiction under the American flag, and that the previously pristine islands were strewn with litter.
There would have been outrage, and there would have been concerted action.
Try further to imagine in those circumstances a governor flying around to bioterrorism conferences and talking about how "complex" everything is, an Education commissioner defending the disastrous failure of the schools and portraying acceptance of the disaster as a great victory, and a police chief talking about improvements in the face of damning evidence.
How long would they and others like them have survived in public office? Their tenures would have been measured in days, if not hours.
Well, all of those things and more have happened, and what have the consequences been for the responsible officials? Nothing. Nobody has been fired. There is no public outrage. Like New Yorkers with terrible traffic, Virgin Islanders have gotten used to it and appear to believe that there is nothing that can be done.
The difference is that, while traffic in New York is a problem, the conditions feeding decline in the Virgin Islands are part of a tragic downward spiral with no end in sight.
The problems of the Virgin Islands are largely a result of low standards, a lack of basic systems, a lack of accountability and a desperate lack of leadership. It is unfortunate that the territory does not have a true elite that could step forward and say "enough is enough." Instead, Virgin Islands life is dominated by a parasitic political class that is as indifferent to the future of the territory as the leeches who run corrupt dictatorships throughout the world. They have succeeded in producing a debilitating pessimism that keeps people from mobilizing and that also is contributing to the growing belief that things cannot get better and maybe it is time to think of moving on. The federal government has played a negative enabling role in bringing about this situation, particularly with respect to corruption, failure to enforce accountability, and the squandering of public dollars.
On a personal note, the audit of the Law Enforcement Planning Commission and its squandering of close to a million dollars was particularly disheartening. Some 20 years ago, with support from two extraordinary Virgin Islands leaders, Wilburn Smith and Calvin Wheatley, I received a small grant of a few thousand dollars from LEPC to help start the St. Thomas-St. John Youth Multiservice Center. Imagine once more what a million well-spent dollars directed to effective youth services could do to reduce delinquency and to enhance the life chances of young people. It does not get much sadder than this.
If those 800,000 cars and trucks had appeared on the day after Thanksgiving 30 years ago, they would have constituted a major crisis, and strong action would have been taken. But the situation deteriorated day by day, giving people time to adjust to their diminished circumstances, the longer commutes, the constant horn blowing and the impossibility of parking.
Imagine that on a certain date in the mid-1970s, the streets and communities of the Virgin Islands suddenly became crime ridden and violent, that the schools basically stopped educating children, that rumors of government corruption were everywhere, that public services were delivered at a level that would embarrass any other jurisdiction under the American flag, and that the previously pristine islands were strewn with litter.
There would have been outrage, and there would have been concerted action.
Try further to imagine in those circumstances a governor flying around to bioterrorism conferences and talking about how "complex" everything is, an Education commissioner defending the disastrous failure of the schools and portraying acceptance of the disaster as a great victory, and a police chief talking about improvements in the face of damning evidence.
How long would they and others like them have survived in public office? Their tenures would have been measured in days, if not hours.
Well, all of those things and more have happened, and what have the consequences been for the responsible officials? Nothing. Nobody has been fired. There is no public outrage. Like New Yorkers with terrible traffic, Virgin Islanders have gotten used to it and appear to believe that there is nothing that can be done.
The difference is that, while traffic in New York is a problem, the conditions feeding decline in the Virgin Islands are part of a tragic downward spiral with no end in sight.
The problems of the Virgin Islands are largely a result of low standards, a lack of basic systems, a lack of accountability and a desperate lack of leadership. It is unfortunate that the territory does not have a true elite that could step forward and say "enough is enough." Instead, Virgin Islands life is dominated by a parasitic political class that is as indifferent to the future of the territory as the leeches who run corrupt dictatorships throughout the world. They have succeeded in producing a debilitating pessimism that keeps people from mobilizing and that also is contributing to the growing belief that things cannot get better and maybe it is time to think of moving on. The federal government has played a negative enabling role in bringing about this situation, particularly with respect to corruption, failure to enforce accountability, and the squandering of public dollars.
On a personal note, the audit of the Law Enforcement Planning Commission and its squandering of close to a million dollars was particularly disheartening. Some 20 years ago, with support from two extraordinary Virgin Islands leaders, Wilburn Smith and Calvin Wheatley, I received a small grant of a few thousand dollars from LEPC to help start the St. Thomas-St. John Youth Multiservice Center. Imagine once more what a million well-spent dollars directed to effective youth services could do to reduce delinquency and to enhance the life chances of young people. It does not get much sadder than this.
Editor's note: Management consultant Frank Schneiger has worked with V.I. agencies since 1975, most recently as consultant to United Way of St. Thomas/St. John. He is one of the founders of the St. Thomas/St. John Youth Multiservice Center.
We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
SCHOOL CONCERNS GET EMPATHY, IF NOT ANSWERS
March 6, 2002 – It might have seemed that educators should be leaping for joy after the Senate Education Committee reviewed eight bills appropriating funds earmarked for repairs, materials and security measures at the territory's schools. But review of the measures did not lessen their requests Wednesday for executive branch action.
Act No. 6427 alone appropriated more than $5 million to the Education Department from the General Fund, the Capital Improvement Fund and the Industrial Development Fund. The total included $120,000 for high school athletes to attend the Pennsylvania Relays and $1 million to implement the Virgin Islands Teacher Recruitment and Training Act passed by the Legislature year.
But appropriation by the legislative branch is one thing; approval by the Office of Management and Budget is another. And until OMB says so, no funds are released.
The Senate committee's hearing Wednesday on St. Croix was called to ascertain the status of appropriations for various Education projects and to review school staffing needs, especially teacher vacancies at the high school level. Discussion centered on the Education Department's need for school equipment and facilities.
Sen. Norman Jn Baptiste, the committee chair, challenged Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's often-professed commitment to the territory's youth as his top priority. "I want you to tell the governor we mean business," Jn Baptiste told Ira Mills, director of the Office of Management and Budget, as Mills fielded questions on OMB's selectivity in funding legislative appropriations.
Superintendents, principals, PTA officers and union representatives testified about matters that they said curtail their ability to provide a safe and constructive educational environment for the territory's children and support staff. Three major areas of concern cited by the educators were school security, teacher recruitment and retention, and securing a continuous flow of revenue to fund the department's operational needs.
Jeanette Smith-Barry, Charlotte Amalie High School principal, said she has had to postpone classes because teaching positions could not be filled at the beginning of the school year or the spring semester. However, she told the Senators, "No senior is left without a class which is required for graduation," adding that her first concern in filling vacancies is to meet the needs of graduating seniors.
Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds said her greatest concern is not filling vacancies, but filling them with individuals who possess the credentials required by the teaching profession. "There are people interested in teaching, but they don't have the required background and training," she said. "We need to be careful."
Faced with growing enrollments and aging structures, all of the administrators testifying stressed the need for additional support staff. "CAHS is beginning to show signs of wear and tear, especially the plumbing," one said. The facility commonly referred to as High School was built in 1955 and currently serves a population of more than 1,700 students.
The educators toted up their requests like merchants ordering stock: "We need six monitors, three secretaries, two paraprofessionals, three cooks and two maintenance workers," correspondence from a PTA group said.
Discussion was heated about funding security measures for Central High School, which has suffered repeated structural damage over the last 10 years — decay, flooding, hurricane battering — and recently became the playing field for idle-hands and arsonists.
Central Principal Kent Moorehead said his needs have changed from when the 2002 Fiscal Year budget was developed. He told the committee he needs six monitors and "innovative security" for the 42-acre property. "We have not had a maintenance engineer for the last five to six years," he said as he pressed Mills to review security plans submitted to the committee.
For teacher vacancies at St. Croix Educational Complex, Principal Kurt Vialet said, "We were able to interview and select candidates last summer," three months before the start of the school year. But he said the department has not been able to find applicants for his vacancies, which are mainly in math and science fields. The Educational Complex includes not only St. Croix's second public high school but also a vocational school and a magnet program, an advanced curriculum program to ready students for medical, marine and engineering careers.
His voice reflecting frustration, Vialet cited the high teacher turnover rate at his school. "Twelve teachers have resigned at the end of the school year over the past three years," he said.
Vialet proposed that a stipend of $3,000 or $4,000 be offered for advances technology professionals, similar to incentives offered to special education instructors. "I have lost my science staff to Hovensa and Bechtel," a subcontractor at the refinery, he said, adding that salaries for engineers begin at $30,000 compared to those for starting teachers of $20,000.
"Those disciplines are very demanding," Jn Baptiste agreed. "You will not pay an engineer the same salary as someone in liberal arts."
Mills told the senators he is supportive of the Education Department, but he disagrees with "extreme" security plans calling for metal detectors, mounted surveillance cameras and strong-arm police tactics to maintain order within the schools. "We now have to balance all needs with the same resources," he said, citing competing court orders and health issues. His role, he said, is to apply resources to critical needs while curtailing over-appropriations.
Baptiste rejected that as an excuse. Telling Mills there is no shortage of creativity in government, he said that additional funding for the schools "can be handled through bond issues." He also urged OMB to seek assistance from federal sources, including the Environmental Protection Agency. "Unless we support our education system, we all are contributors to the decadence of this community," he said.
Sen. Carlton Dowe said he is proposing two measures to increase the territory's teacher pool. One is to have 75 percent of the educational assistance financial contributions from Economic Development Agency beneficiaries go into a special fund to for scholarships and public school programs. The other is for the government to provide 50 percent tuition assistance to UVI students majoring in math or science who agree to teach in the territory's schools.
Act No. 6427 alone appropriated more than $5 million to the Education Department from the General Fund, the Capital Improvement Fund and the Industrial Development Fund. The total included $120,000 for high school athletes to attend the Pennsylvania Relays and $1 million to implement the Virgin Islands Teacher Recruitment and Training Act passed by the Legislature year.
But appropriation by the legislative branch is one thing; approval by the Office of Management and Budget is another. And until OMB says so, no funds are released.
The Senate committee's hearing Wednesday on St. Croix was called to ascertain the status of appropriations for various Education projects and to review school staffing needs, especially teacher vacancies at the high school level. Discussion centered on the Education Department's need for school equipment and facilities.
Sen. Norman Jn Baptiste, the committee chair, challenged Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's often-professed commitment to the territory's youth as his top priority. "I want you to tell the governor we mean business," Jn Baptiste told Ira Mills, director of the Office of Management and Budget, as Mills fielded questions on OMB's selectivity in funding legislative appropriations.
Superintendents, principals, PTA officers and union representatives testified about matters that they said curtail their ability to provide a safe and constructive educational environment for the territory's children and support staff. Three major areas of concern cited by the educators were school security, teacher recruitment and retention, and securing a continuous flow of revenue to fund the department's operational needs.
Jeanette Smith-Barry, Charlotte Amalie High School principal, said she has had to postpone classes because teaching positions could not be filled at the beginning of the school year or the spring semester. However, she told the Senators, "No senior is left without a class which is required for graduation," adding that her first concern in filling vacancies is to meet the needs of graduating seniors.
Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds said her greatest concern is not filling vacancies, but filling them with individuals who possess the credentials required by the teaching profession. "There are people interested in teaching, but they don't have the required background and training," she said. "We need to be careful."
Faced with growing enrollments and aging structures, all of the administrators testifying stressed the need for additional support staff. "CAHS is beginning to show signs of wear and tear, especially the plumbing," one said. The facility commonly referred to as High School was built in 1955 and currently serves a population of more than 1,700 students.
The educators toted up their requests like merchants ordering stock: "We need six monitors, three secretaries, two paraprofessionals, three cooks and two maintenance workers," correspondence from a PTA group said.
Discussion was heated about funding security measures for Central High School, which has suffered repeated structural damage over the last 10 years — decay, flooding, hurricane battering — and recently became the playing field for idle-hands and arsonists.
Central Principal Kent Moorehead said his needs have changed from when the 2002 Fiscal Year budget was developed. He told the committee he needs six monitors and "innovative security" for the 42-acre property. "We have not had a maintenance engineer for the last five to six years," he said as he pressed Mills to review security plans submitted to the committee.
For teacher vacancies at St. Croix Educational Complex, Principal Kurt Vialet said, "We were able to interview and select candidates last summer," three months before the start of the school year. But he said the department has not been able to find applicants for his vacancies, which are mainly in math and science fields. The Educational Complex includes not only St. Croix's second public high school but also a vocational school and a magnet program, an advanced curriculum program to ready students for medical, marine and engineering careers.
His voice reflecting frustration, Vialet cited the high teacher turnover rate at his school. "Twelve teachers have resigned at the end of the school year over the past three years," he said.
Vialet proposed that a stipend of $3,000 or $4,000 be offered for advances technology professionals, similar to incentives offered to special education instructors. "I have lost my science staff to Hovensa and Bechtel," a subcontractor at the refinery, he said, adding that salaries for engineers begin at $30,000 compared to those for starting teachers of $20,000.
"Those disciplines are very demanding," Jn Baptiste agreed. "You will not pay an engineer the same salary as someone in liberal arts."
Mills told the senators he is supportive of the Education Department, but he disagrees with "extreme" security plans calling for metal detectors, mounted surveillance cameras and strong-arm police tactics to maintain order within the schools. "We now have to balance all needs with the same resources," he said, citing competing court orders and health issues. His role, he said, is to apply resources to critical needs while curtailing over-appropriations.
Baptiste rejected that as an excuse. Telling Mills there is no shortage of creativity in government, he said that additional funding for the schools "can be handled through bond issues." He also urged OMB to seek assistance from federal sources, including the Environmental Protection Agency. "Unless we support our education system, we all are contributors to the decadence of this community," he said.
Sen. Carlton Dowe said he is proposing two measures to increase the territory's teacher pool. One is to have 75 percent of the educational assistance financial contributions from Economic Development Agency beneficiaries go into a special fund to for scholarships and public school programs. The other is for the government to provide 50 percent tuition assistance to UVI students majoring in math or science who agree to teach in the territory's schools.
HOTELIERS OUT TO ENTICE PUERTO RICAN TOURISTS
March 6, 2002 – The many virtues and vantages of the Virgin Islands will be touted to as many as a thousand Puerto Rican travel agents this weekend in the hope of capturing a part of the neighboring commonwealth's potentially profitable summer tourist business.
At a trade show in Bayamon, the association will be offering the agents a deal they may find hard to resist, Beverly Nicholson, executive director of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association, said.
"We are unveiling a program exclusively for Puerto Rico travel agents — to spend two nights on St. Thomas or St. John in June to see the islands," she said.
"Traditionally, July, August and September are the high months here for Puerto Rico travel," she said. "There is a tremendous opportunity for off-season business from this market."
Travel agents and tour operators "provide both overnight and day-trip business to the territory," she said. "Many of our competitors actively pursue the Puerto Rico market. We want to ensure that we are getting our share of this lucrative market."
The trade show, Friday and Saturday at the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon, is being sponsored by the Puerto Rican Society of Wholesale and Excursion Providers.
Joining Nicholson at the event will be representatives of Antilles Resorts, Bolongo Bay Beach Club and Villas, the Holiday Inn Windward Passage Hotel, Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort, the Westin St. John Resort and Wyndham Sugar Bay Beach Club and Resort, as well as owners of Sapphire and Cowpet Bay condominiums and other properties.
They'll take with them canvas bags for each of the agents, which will be filled with Virgin Islands promotional goodies and destination information, including the obligatory minature of Cruzan Rum, provided by the local distributor, Premier Wines and Spirits. At a Saturday luncheon, a gift basket filled with local shopping treats will be raffled off.
Nicholson said she didn't know if the Department of Tourism would be represented at the trade show. Calls to the department Wednesday afternoon were not returned.
At a trade show in Bayamon, the association will be offering the agents a deal they may find hard to resist, Beverly Nicholson, executive director of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association, said.
"We are unveiling a program exclusively for Puerto Rico travel agents — to spend two nights on St. Thomas or St. John in June to see the islands," she said.
"Traditionally, July, August and September are the high months here for Puerto Rico travel," she said. "There is a tremendous opportunity for off-season business from this market."
Travel agents and tour operators "provide both overnight and day-trip business to the territory," she said. "Many of our competitors actively pursue the Puerto Rico market. We want to ensure that we are getting our share of this lucrative market."
The trade show, Friday and Saturday at the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon, is being sponsored by the Puerto Rican Society of Wholesale and Excursion Providers.
Joining Nicholson at the event will be representatives of Antilles Resorts, Bolongo Bay Beach Club and Villas, the Holiday Inn Windward Passage Hotel, Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort, the Westin St. John Resort and Wyndham Sugar Bay Beach Club and Resort, as well as owners of Sapphire and Cowpet Bay condominiums and other properties.
They'll take with them canvas bags for each of the agents, which will be filled with Virgin Islands promotional goodies and destination information, including the obligatory minature of Cruzan Rum, provided by the local distributor, Premier Wines and Spirits. At a Saturday luncheon, a gift basket filled with local shopping treats will be raffled off.
Nicholson said she didn't know if the Department of Tourism would be represented at the trade show. Calls to the department Wednesday afternoon were not returned.
CONFERENCE TO LOOK AT ENVIRO-ECONOMIC ISSUES
March 6, 2002 – If you'd like to present a paper at the 7th annual V.I. Nonpoint Source Pollution Conference, to be held May 16 and 17 at the Westin Resort on St. John, Friday is the deadline for submitting it. The conference theme is "Land, Sand and Sea for a Healthy Environment and Economy."
Julie Wright, program supervisor for the University of the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service and co-chair of the conference, said product exhibitors have until April 3 to sign up, and those wanting to attend can register into May.
The conference is open to anyone with an interest in nonpoint source pollution, which refers to types of pollution which come from many diffuse sources, in contrast to that which comes from an identifiable source such as an industrial plant or a sewage outfall pipe.
Wright said the conference should be of interest to community groups, farmers, government workers, construction workers, boaters, researchers, students and vendors of pollution-prevention products and processes.
For attendees who register by May 1, the conference, including lunch both days, is free. After that, the conference costs $10 per day and lunch is $25 for each day.
There will be a tour on May 17 of various St. John project sites including the Colorado State University sediment measurement project. That will cost $5 for those who register by May 1 and $10 for those who sign up later.
Conference details are still being finalized, Wright said, but she expects the Colorado State researchers to talk about the years of work they've done evaluating runoff in areas such as Fish Bay and Catherineberg, and a Planning and Natural Resources Department official to discuss new rules and regulations. Also on the program will be presentations on erosion and sediment control and the effects of land use on the local economy.
Wright said she also expects several local students to present three-dimensional models showing the effects of nonpoint source pollution, which is "the primary water polluter in the Virgin Islands." Examples of such pollution in the territory, she said, are when rain washes soil, oil and grease, pesticides, other chemicals and effluent from failing septic tanks into the sea. She also said that human waste and debris from boats affect water quality.
When the water quality degrades, it impacts the territory's tourism product. "Our tourism product depends on a clean and healthy environment," Wright said.
The conference is made possible by a grant from PNR's nonpoint source pollution program, which is funded by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
To obtain more information about presenting a paper, exhibiting products or attending the conference call Wright at 693-1082 or PNR planner Bill Rohring at 774-3320. Or contact either of them by e-mail — Wright at jwright@uvi.edu or Rohring at bill.rohring@noaa.gov.
Conference information and an application form can be found online at the Nonpoint Source Pollution Conference web site.
Julie Wright, program supervisor for the University of the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service and co-chair of the conference, said product exhibitors have until April 3 to sign up, and those wanting to attend can register into May.
The conference is open to anyone with an interest in nonpoint source pollution, which refers to types of pollution which come from many diffuse sources, in contrast to that which comes from an identifiable source such as an industrial plant or a sewage outfall pipe.
Wright said the conference should be of interest to community groups, farmers, government workers, construction workers, boaters, researchers, students and vendors of pollution-prevention products and processes.
For attendees who register by May 1, the conference, including lunch both days, is free. After that, the conference costs $10 per day and lunch is $25 for each day.
There will be a tour on May 17 of various St. John project sites including the Colorado State University sediment measurement project. That will cost $5 for those who register by May 1 and $10 for those who sign up later.
Conference details are still being finalized, Wright said, but she expects the Colorado State researchers to talk about the years of work they've done evaluating runoff in areas such as Fish Bay and Catherineberg, and a Planning and Natural Resources Department official to discuss new rules and regulations. Also on the program will be presentations on erosion and sediment control and the effects of land use on the local economy.
Wright said she also expects several local students to present three-dimensional models showing the effects of nonpoint source pollution, which is "the primary water polluter in the Virgin Islands." Examples of such pollution in the territory, she said, are when rain washes soil, oil and grease, pesticides, other chemicals and effluent from failing septic tanks into the sea. She also said that human waste and debris from boats affect water quality.
When the water quality degrades, it impacts the territory's tourism product. "Our tourism product depends on a clean and healthy environment," Wright said.
The conference is made possible by a grant from PNR's nonpoint source pollution program, which is funded by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
To obtain more information about presenting a paper, exhibiting products or attending the conference call Wright at 693-1082 or PNR planner Bill Rohring at 774-3320. Or contact either of them by e-mail — Wright at jwright@uvi.edu or Rohring at bill.rohring@noaa.gov.
Conference information and an application form can be found online at the Nonpoint Source Pollution Conference web site.
SIBILLY PTA MEETING FEATURES SPECIAL GUESTS
Parents and guardians of students attending the Joseph Sibilly Elementary School are invited to attend a special Parent Teacher Association meeting.
Special guests appearing at this meeting are Senator Lorraine Berry, who will make a special presentation and Kidscope Director, Mrs. Dilsa Capdeville, who will give a presentation entitled "Motivating Our Children to Succeed."
Special guests appearing at this meeting are Senator Lorraine Berry, who will make a special presentation and Kidscope Director, Mrs. Dilsa Capdeville, who will give a presentation entitled "Motivating Our Children to Succeed."
OLIVER ELEMENTARY MONTHLY PTA MEETING
Parents and guardians of students attending the E. Benjamin Oliver Elementary School are invited to attend this month's regularly scheduled Parent Teacher Association meeting in the school's cafeteria.
SIBILLY SPELLING BEE
Parents and guardians of students attending the Joseph Sibilly Elementary School are invited to attend the Primary Spelling Bee at the school.
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AT KIRWAN
The public is invited to attend a program in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Kirwin Elementary School's opening. Former Michael J. Kirwan Elementary School principals; Miss Gladys Abraham, Dr. Arthurlyn Thomas and Mrs. Aloma Blake will be honored during this special tribute.
GOVERNOR'S PRESENTATION RESCHEDULED
The presentation by Governor Charles Turnbull at Kirwan Elementary SChool has been rescheduled from Wednesday, March 6.The presentation entitled "The Real J. Antonio Jarvis" is part of the Kirwan Elementary School's celebration of Black History Month.
