Newsletter for August 2022
A stellar summer for the Learning Center
By Tylisha Miller
On the 5th of August The Learning Center completed yet another successful month of summer classes. This was the first summer class since Covid-19 held our little island hostage. This year I tutored along with at full staff of Kabrina, Tracey, Deverne, Juliette, Joleen, Molishka who all made certain that their classes were a perfect combination of fun and learning.
 
Summer class this year was at no cost to the parents, which they expressed their gratitude for. Occasionally around this time on the island of Bequia parents are scrambling to gather back-to-school items for their child/children. A process that has been known to be quite expensive. We hosted over 40 children ranging from Kindergarteners to 6th graders, a majority being from the lower grades. There were children in attendance from every primary school on the island.

This year we also hosted a book report challenge. Kids were asked to take home books from the library and come back to do book reports which would earn them a sticker on the leaderboard chart. The most astonishing thing happened during that challenge that the tutorers did not see coming. For the first time ever, the youngest of the kids dominated the chart, being the ones doing the most book reports. We had two second graders top the charts by reading over 20 books. Kylie Richards and Avery Ollivierre who are both second graders did a superb job at reading and understanding the books they read. In the end Kylie read 29 books and Avery read 26. We also had 6th grader Kevecia Dasilva who read 18 books and to our absolute surprise, Ryder Leslie who is just entering Kindergarten read 3 books. We cannot express enough just how proud we are of our little readers and all the hard work they've put in during the summer class.
 
I'd say this summer was one to remember. The kids left with a new sense of self, new and healthy learning habits and a new found love for table tennis. We look forward to reopening in September and continuing our work with these amazing tiny humans. 
One of the reasons that this summer was so special was because it was, for many, the first time back after the pandemic. But, maybe that experience was an instigator as well, with more going on this summer for young people than ever before. In addition to the Learning Center programs, we've been delighted to support the work of The HUB Collective and the Junior Sailing Academy Bequia. All have had full participation for all of their programs throughout the summer.

We'd like to continue the momentum as we move into the fall, and certainly the Learning Center will continue as it always does through the school year. Some repairs and upgrades to the building have been done, thanks to the support of donors, which were key to the ongoing success of the program. Thanks too to donors who have come forward to help with the repairs to the double ender. For information on how to support these programs, simply respond to this email.

Many thanks,
Glen Herbert
Executive Director
Email: glen.herbert@grenadinesinitiative.org
Ph: 289 439 7052
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