One week, one subject, two countries, two events

The final week of May saw two crucial Language Arts events in the Eastern Caribbean. The final of Language Buzz in Grenada and the final of the national Spelling Bee in Dominica. This year I was fortunate enough to attend both events representing Macmillan. I got to witness the students competing and present their awards.

Both events were dedicated to language, with Language Buzz focussing on creative narrative pieces and persuasive writing- presented to their peers and a panel of judges. The Spelling Bee followed a fast paced rigorous spelling model that increased students vocabulary as well as exemplifying their pronunciation and presentation skills.

At both events students had competed at district level and made it to the national final, this meant they got to network and make friends from across the island, with other students dedicated to learning. One group of children in Grenada had a notebook where they had written the names of all the new people they had met- I was honoured to make the list!

The events were attended by ministry staff and many teachers from the island. They worked to display the importance of education but also to highlight the benefits of both competition and collaboration- while the aim was to win, making it to this point was also emphasized as a huge achievement.

While the presentations themselves were impressive and interesting, for me, the real highlight was watching the children come down from the stage and walk down to their beaming teachers. Teachers who were so genuinely proud of their students and so dedicated to their learning. These teachers were cheering them on and caring so much- working around the clock to support education. It is for them that we create resources that will free them up to do this type of support and to manage all the extra dimensions involved in teaching.

Picture a young boy, around 10 years old, crying with disappointment that he hadn’t won, running into his teacher’s arms, a teacher so full of pride and positivity, ready to turn this into an opportunity for feedback and growth.

Both events showed common themes where students were struggling, lessons for teachers and the ministry on where classes could focus more- in spelling it was that pesky ‘i before e, except after c’! In Language Buzz the variety of narrative techniques and presentation skills- such as posture and elocution.

Katy Corderoy, Marketing Manager