Remarks
Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham
Prime Minister
Dedication of the Anatol Rodgers High School
20 January 2012
The Honourable
T. Desmond Bannister, Minister of Education
Mrs. Elma
Garraway, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education;
Mr. Lionel
Sands, Director of Education
Mr. Julian
Anderson, District Superintendent,
Mrs. Myrtle McPhee, Principal, Anatol
Rodgers High
School
Other Ministry of Education Officials and Officers:
The family of
the late Mrs. Anatol Rodgers
School Board
Members and P.T.A. Officers
Staff and
Students;
Ladies and
gentlemen,
Good Morning.
I
am pleased to be here this morning for the official opening of the Anatol Rodgers
High School. It was shortly
after the school opened its doors in September, 2008 that the Government agreed
to rename it in honour of Anatol Rodgers.
We believed that this outstanding educator was due to have this modern
state-of-the art edifice named in her honour.
The
community-minded and public-spirited Oprah Winfrey often speaks of keeping a
Gratitude Journal; an old idea which she made popular on her primetime daily
show. The idea speaks to the importance
of acknowledging those for whom we owe our gratitude.
Essentially,
The Bahamas has created a special Register of Gratitude to celebrate exemplary educators
and citizens. In our public education
system, this Register is the list of extraordinary and veteran educators in
whose memory we have named schools throughout the country.
When
we read the names of the men and women which adorn our schools, and recall
their life-stories, let it not only be an occasion for happy memory. These citizens of note, laboured too long,
dreamed too broadly, and hoped to deeply for us to fail in rededicating
ourselves to their rich legacy and living memory.
Today,
we share a mutual privilege. We are here
to honour and memorialize the work of a fine citizen-educator, who committed
her life and her considerable talents to teaching, one of life’s noblest
vocations. As someone long-married to a
teacher, I believe that I can fairly make this claim.
Though
passed from this life, Anatol Rodgers lives on in the memory of many
Bahamians. How good it is that her family
and friends, and former students are here to acknowledge her contributions to
national development.
Some, no doubt, remember her legendary non-tolerance for
mediocrity. However, many attest to her
nurturing side that only wanted the best for her students. She subscribed to the
philosophy that education involved training the whole child, including their
character; their intellect, and physical abilities. She wanted her students to
be creative and make a difference. She was determined to understand each of
their needs and their concerns and encouraged other teachers to do likewise.
She made her mark in the field of education through encouraging her
students to do their best. She believed
in Bahamians’ ability to achieve, and hence she provided the environment where
they could so. Many of our finest
citizens emerged during her tenure as Principal of the Government High School
including two of my colleague Cabinet Ministers, The Honourable T. Desmond
Bannister and The Honourable Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace.
Mrs.
Anatol Rodgers had an essential insight into the very fabric of the
nation. It was this: “Our children and young people belong to us
all. When they succeed, the nation
prospers. When they fail, it is our
shared failure”.
Dr.
C.R. Walker and his wife Mabel Walker share a rare distinction. Veteran educators both, they are the only
husband and wife team in Bahamian history to have schools named in their
honour.
Today,
we acknowledge and celebrate another rare distinction. Anatol Rodgers was a Reeves, the daughter of
Lucille Robinson Reeves and C.H. Reeves after whom a Junior High School is
named – the C.H. Reeves Jr. High School.
I believe that this is the first time in our history that a father and
daughter share such a distinction.
For
her times, Anatol Rodgers was not just a rare example of a Bahamian woman who
earned a bachelor’s degree, much less a master’s degree; she did both. She was among a relatively small number of
Bahamians to have earned tertiary degrees at that point in our history. She was also among that first cadre of
trained teachers.
Anatol
Rodgers was not just the first Bahamian woman in certain areas of national
life; she was among the first cadre of Bahamians, male or female, in various
areas of national life.
At
heart, I am told, Anatol Rodgers was a lover of English and Latin. This love had a clear object: the mastery of
language itself, the higher purpose of which is the pursuit of knowledge.
Students:
In Mrs. Rodgers you will find a great
example and a faithful guide. In this
spirit, I wish to say some words on the great importance of literacy and oracy
to the lives of our students and our national life.
In terms of literacy, it is essential that you
become more competent in the reading, writing and comprehension of the English
language. In terms of oracy, it is
essential that you become more competent in oral communication with the ability to effectively convey your thoughts and your ideas.
Such
competencies are critical as regards to economic development, competitiveness
and productivity. But competence in these areas is not solely
about making a living. As essential,
competence in these areas also enriches other areas of one’s life and our life
in common.
Literacy
offers unimaginable access to humanity’s great thinkers and writers as well as
the treasury of world history. And, dear
young people, oracy may help you to better understand a new friend in a
different culture and country halfway around the world you are communicating
with through Skype.
Master
English, one of the most important world languages. This will help you to pursue your dreams. It will help you to take advantage of what
The Bahamas and the world may offer.
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
Anatol
Rodgers was a woman of stellar character.
At the core of her character was the ability to discern the good and the
possibilities in the character of her students, including those of whom some
others had long thrown up their hands in frustration.
She
recognized too the talents of those with especially gifted minds or talents in
certain subject areas. She provided many
of these individuals with the avenues and the advice necessary to cultivate the
life of the mind, and as importantly, the curiosity of the human spirit.
This
gifted educator knew also that academic or intellectual achievement is not the
same as character. Character includes
virtues such as fair-play, honesty, hard work, compassion and fortitude, values
all exemplified by the personage whose name graces this school.
Anatol
Rodgers exhibited and insisted on civility and manners as building blocks for
ones character as well as the character of the nation. Saying good morning, thank you and excuse
me, as well as addressing one’s elders properly is a sign of outward respect
and inner character.
Mrs.
Rodgers was a model of public service and active citizenship. She attained many firsts in the institutions
to which she dedicated her considerable energy.
Most notably she became the first female head of the legendary Government School,
an institution to which she dedicated much of her life.
Along
with her passion for learning and teaching, this educator-citizen was
passionate about community service. The
hours, the years, the decades she gave in such service, were given generously
and enthusiastically to numerous boards, clubs, associations and
committees.
She
served her community and her church, children and young people, the
strengthening of the public archives and the public library system.
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
Prior
to the 1992 there was only one high school, S.C. McPherson, and two primary
schools, Carmichael and Carlton Francis located south of the Tonique Williams-Darling Highway
and Independence Highway.
After
1992, we built the Gerald Cash, Garvin Tynes, Cleveland Eneas and Sadie Curtis
Primary Schools in this corridor, and, we built the C.V. Bethel High
School.
The
Anatol Rodgers High School is the second high school planned during my last
term in office. Construction began under our predecessors in office but
completion was stalled because of a number of issues. The delay permitted us to adjust the schools plans
to better embrace the long term needs of this expanding community.
This
school is necessary because of the increased school aged students living in
this part of New Providence. Indeed,
this influenced the decision that the school would house grades seven through
twelve.
The
school is well appointed and equipped.
It comprises 76,000 square feet with 35 general standard classrooms, 4
specialty classrooms, 3 general science labs, 1 food lab, 1 clothing lab, 3
music labs, a gymnasium with changing and rest rooms, 1 technical workshop, 2
technical drawing classrooms, a library, 2 computer labs, administration
offices and teachers lounge with 2 sets of staff restrooms, 2 tuck shops, 4
sets of male/female student restrooms and covered walkways. As well, the school
has sporting facilities including: basketball courts, volleyball courts,
softball field and track & field facilities.
The
school was constructed by Ranmar Precision Development –Penn- under a contract
awarded in April, 2007. The original
contract was for $8,848,936.17 plus Provisional Sums totaling $810,000 and an Approved
Contingency of $884,893.62
Additional
funding to provide for additions approved to meet the expanding needs of this
school’s catchment area amounted to $5,556,714.75 bringing the final revised
contract price to a total sum of $16.2 million
This
does not include, I might add, additional sums paid for consultancy, survey
services and architectural services.
The
school welcomed its first group of 780 students on September 8, 2008. The staff
included 6 administrators, 54 teachers, 4 clerical staff, 13 custodial staff
and 10 security staff. Today the total
student enrolment is 1,260 students with a staff compliment of 8 administrators
and 89 teachers.
During
its short history, the Anatol Rodgers High School has amassed an enviable
record of accomplishments, among them:
· that
in 2009, a group of fifteen 10th graders sat the BGCSE in
Keyboarding, Accounts and Commerce and all successfully passed them with A-C
grades; and
· that
Rishan Smith and Angel Cartwright, graduates of Anatol Rodgers High School, are
recipients of United World Scholarships.
And, I am told, the Anatol Rodgers
Culinary Programme has reaped rewards for its students and garnered high praise
for its instructors.
On the sports front also, your athletes are
enjoying impressive showing at Government Secondary School Sports Association sporting
events.
I was pleased to learn that this school is
home to the only Pre-Engineering Magnet Programme in the nation. The programme is supported I am advised, by a
cadre of professional engineers from both private and public agencies who have
taken on the responsibility of preparing the next generation to fill their
shoes.
Anatol Rodgers High School
is also home to a Pre-Vocational Unit for students who learn differently. The education programme
for children with Autism spectrum disorders was previously centred at the
Garvin Tynes Primary School and was formally expanded to the junior high level
at the opening of this school in 2008.
We
expect great things to come out of Anatol Rodgers High School. You have an
interesting and progressive curriculum, dedicated teachers and tuition
materials and technical components required to help you in achieving your full
promise and potential.
Students
of the Anatol Rodgers High School have the benefit of my Government’s
commitment to providing quality in Education to all Bahamians. I implore each of you to use your stay at this
state-of-the-art school to develop yourselves. Take care of the school – it is yours; show pride
of ownership by using facilities with care and leave a beautiful legacy to the
students who will follow in your footsteps, tomorrow and hereafter.
I am now pleased to honour Mrs. Anatol Rodgers
by proclaiming this school which bears her name officially open.