By Gina Fonseca, Assistant Local Manager - St. Martins Des Porres Middle School, Belize City, Belize
It’s June 22, 2023, Swift Hall is buzzing with excitement and promptly at 4:15 pm, the familiar tune of “Pomp and Circumstance” fills the air. 78 nervously beaming Standard 6 students make their way into the auditorium and march up the front to take their places of honor. It is a good day. We are proud, we are blessed, and we are grateful. The ceremony marks the end of another academic year for St. Martin de Porres R.C. School, and what a year it has been!
So much has happened since the school year commenced last September with an air of uncertainty as we all grappled with our post-pandemic reality. What is the new normal? Are we prepared? These were just a few of the questions lurking in the backs of our minds, but we dove in headfirst. We have had our share of challenges, but we have had many highlights as well.
The main event was graduation. Our graduating class this year consisted of 36 boys and 42 girls, 73 of whom are moving on to high school. A few of the graduates have already enrolled in one of the four high schools which are now offering a completely free high school education. These high schools are Maud Williams High School (4 students), Sadie Vernon High School (7), Gwen Lizarraga High School (9), and Excelsior High School (2).
Since last year, these four schools have started to provide a free education including books, uniforms, and daily meals. This will alleviate the financial burden on our parents.
Other students have also enrolled in high schools such as St. Catherine Academy (11 students), Wesley College (4), Pallotti High School (7), Anglican Cathedral College (9), Nazarene High School (12), and Edward P. Yorke High School (8).
The Minister of Education, in his keynote address to the graduating class, pledged a government scholarship to all those who have been accepted to these schools, but cannot afford to attend. The future looks bright!
Our graduates are not the only ones shining this year. St. Martin’s has done well in the area of sports as well! Our female football team took second place in the Bishop’s Cup while our male team barely missed the playoffs.
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Aside from sports, our school also shone by placing second in the National Spelling Bee for the Belize district. We are extremely proud of Dane Flowers, one of our graduates, who represented us well. We also danced our way to a Silver medal in this year’s Festival of Arts competition. All these extracurricular activities have shown the immense potential we have to share with the world.
Some other notable achievements for our students this year also include improvements in the area of literacy which is essential for overall academic performance. 50% of students from Infant 1 - Standard 2 are at their reading level and 66% of students from Standard 3 - Standard 6 are at their reading level. This is a commendable achievement since these students lost 2 years of learning due to the pandemic. Our teachers are really working hard to bring them up to their respective levels. We are also reporting a 77% overall pass rate for this school year. We are proud of the efforts of our entire school community - teachers, students, administration, and parents - in making up for lost time. The efforts are paying off.
In terms of Social support, we have had 60 students enrolled in counseling and currently have 135 students in our feeding program. The school hopes to improve on these numbers for next year. We are committed to offering as much support as we can in these areas.
St. Martin’s continues to move ahead embracing both the challenges and opportunities that come our way. As we anticipate the upcoming school year, we are charged with resilience and filled with hope.
