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December 17, 2013
Festive kick-off two new school renovation projects Sint Eustatius
On December 12th the kick-off of two new construction projects was cele-brated on Sint Eustatius: the Golden Rock and Bethel Methodist School. For the Golden Rock School it concerns a thorough renovation of a dated school building and for the Bethel Methodist School it concerns the constructive im-provement of six class rooms to eliminate the currently existing space short-age at the school.
The programme at the Golden Rock School was opened with cheerful songs by the school children, under guidance of music teacher Dennis Amajan. from the Department of Public Works and Planning & Preparation (Openbare Werken en Planning & Voorbereiding) and president Ingrid Whitfi eld of the school board ex-pressed their gratitude to OCW for the upcoming facelift of the school, aft er which the demolition process of the old school was ceremonially started, followed by the unveiling of the construction board. The building of the Golden Rock School, which is over 50 years old, will undergo big changes: roofs and ceilings will be completely replaced, there will be new windows and doors and toilets will be ren-ovated. The buildings will receive a new air-conditioning installation with fresh air supply and CO2 meters and the electric network will undergo an upgrade. During the renovation period, which lasts until the end of 2014, some of the students are temporarily allocated in an educational accommodation - especially equipped therefore - on the fi eld of Stichting Zagen en Schaven in the area of Man o’ war.
At the Bethel Methodist School too there were festivities on Thursday morning with a construction sign being unveiled aft er speeches by school principal school-directeur Ellis Woodley, Reverend Elkanah Seymour of the school board, Commis-sioner Tearr and head of RCN/OCW Hans Kuilder. The ceremony was accompa-nied by a group of school children, singing a song..At this school it concerns a class room building of two fl oors of which the con-struction of the existing fl oor needs to be adapted. In the past, the building was emptied because of construction problems and is now handled by replacing the existing fl oor. Furthermore, the upper and lower fl oor will get railings and the di-vision of the classrooms will be adapted by applying new dividing walls. To ensure the safety of the students and personnel, the classrooms will be well screened off during the activities. Activities causing a lot of inconvenience are executed outside the school hours. Aft er completing these renovations in May 2014, the school will have in total six additional classrooms. The renovation of the remaining buildings of the Bethel Methodist School will take place at a later point in time, according to the complete allocation plan for Sint Eustatius.
The construction company Liccom Statia N.V. executes the activities at the Golden Rock Shool, as well as at the Bethel Methodist School. The Central Buildings Ser-vice (Rijksgebouwendienst), on behalf of the Public Entity Sint Eustatius and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap - OCW) guides the renovations and are part of the education accommodation plans. These plans were made by the Public Entities, including Sint Eustatius, and the OCW to improve the accommodation of education in the Caribbean Nether-lands, between 2012 and 2017.
From right to left .: director Rosalie Edelstein-Lopes and ex-director Debbie Clark-Brown of the Golden Rock School, Commissioner Carlyle Tearr of the Department of Public Works and Planning & Preparation (Openbare Werken en Planning & Voorbereiding) and head of department RCN/OCW Hans Kuilder, offi cially kicked-off the renovation with a slam of their demolition hammer.
From left to right. head of RCN/OCW Hans Kuilder, director Ellis Woodley from the Bethel Methodist School and Commissioner Carlyle Tearr from the Department of Public Works and Planning & Preparation (Openbare Werken en Planning & Voorbereiding) aft er the unveiling of the construction board, containing the description of the upcoming renovations.
New education magazine appears in January 2014
In Januari 2014 the new education magazine “What’s new in CN education” will appear. It concerns a maga-zine that will be issued by RCN/OCW three times a year. There will be a copy for all teachers, school managers and board members. The magazine will also be spread among the education related institutions like EOZ, SKJ, leerplicht, the Centres for Yout and Family, the commis-sioners of Education and the local island governments. The new education magazine is meant to inform ed-ucation professionals on all three islands about new education developments in the Caribbean Nether-
lands. As of the next edition, the magazine will be writt en by an editorial team, consisting of education professionals from all three islands. Do you enjoy writ-ing, would you like to contribute to this magazine and have time for this? Please contact Elaine Marchena (see colophon for contact details).
ColophonThis News Flash is issued by RCN/OCW.Final editing: Elaine Marchena, Communication Advisor RCN/[email protected] , tel. + 599 318 4509 / +599 318 3370.
The RCN/OCW team wishes you a great Christmas celebration and a
healthy and happy new year!
