By Candianne Williams
Museum Development Office
The Village at Grace Bay
One of the events planned to celebrate the Turks and Caicos National Museum’s 25th Anniversary is the launch of the first annual National Museum Quiz for secondary school students. The quiz semifinals will be held on February 25th 2016 and the finals on March 3rd 2016 during Education Week.
On Wednesday 25th November a quiz preparation workshop for the secondary school history teachers was held at the Museum’s Development Office in the Village at Grace Bay, Providenciales in conjunction with the Department of Education. These teachers will be the coaches for the teams for the Quiz.
The museum’s outdoor exhibit, the Caicos Heritage House and Garden in the Village in Grace Bay, is the inspiration for the quiz. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) definition of cultural heritage as tangible, intangible and natural heritage will be used to inform the scope of the quiz.
Mr Ben Stubenberg
The teachers who participated in the workshop represented eight secondary schools from across the Turks and Caicos Islands. The schools represented were H J Robinson High School in Grand Turk, Raymond Gardiner High School in North Caicos, Marjorie Basden High School in South Caicos and Clement Howell High School, Maranatha High School, Wesley Methodist School, Long Bay High School and TCIPS Comprehensive High School in Providenciales. Special thanks to Fortis for sponsoring the workshop and making it possible to have representation form the family islands.
Mr Mark Garland
Mr. Mark Garland, Deputy Director of Education and a member of the planning team of the Museum’s National Quiz Committee addressed the workshop. He spoke to teachers about the important role they play in passing on the cultural heritage of these islands to their students and encouraged them to participate fully in the workshop.
Ms. Talisha Simons, Manager of Corporate Communications, Fortis TCI, the Corporate Sponsor for the Quiz, reiterated the company’s commitment to the education of the youth of the Turks and Caicos Islands, their expressed interest in the history and cultural heritage of these islands and said how happy they were to sponsor the Museum’s National Quiz.
Mr. Don Stark founder Turks & Caicos Reef Fund, sponsoring partner spoke about the Coral Reef Program which will be launched early next year, first in the primary schools and then in the secondary schools. The TCI Reef Fund, the National Museum and Department of Environmental and Maritime Affairs are collaborating on this program.
Teachers at workshop.
Mr. Ben Stubenberg, owner of Caicu Naniki and sponsoring partner enticed all present with the details of the 3 day, 2 night tour to the historic city of Cap Haitien, which is the main prize trip for the winning team accompanied by the teacher/coach. One of the trip highlights will be a tour of the Citadelle Fortress which is the largest in the Americas and a UNESCO protected World Heritage Site.
Workshop Facilitators: Mrs. Patricia Saxton – Director of the National Museum; Mrs. Nikki Jennings – National Museum’s Tour Guide, Mrs. Amy Avenant – Environmental Outreach Coordinator, Dept. of Environmental & Maritime Affairs (DEMA), Ms. Angella Freites Department of Culture, Mr. David Bowen from Grace Bay Resorts Community Foundation gave fantastic presentations on aspects of cultural heritage based on UNESCO’s definition. These presentations were each followed by very fruitful discussions. The general consensus coming out of the workshop was that it was informative and beneficial to all present.
