Participants in this year’s staging of the Great Shape! Inc and Sandals Foundation ‘Teach the Teachers’ workshop, which was held at the Godfrey Stewart High School in Westmoreland, have commended the initiative, stressing the need for the programme to be continued.

“Great Shape! Awesome. Excellent programme. Must be continued in Jamaica!” enthused Stacey Ann Ottey, Public Relations Officer at Godfrey Stewart High School in Westmoreland and head of the Home Economics Department.

Some 120 teachers from across Jamaica participated in the two-week training programme conducted erlier this month by more than 40 overseas-based volunteers in the areas of Language Arts, Behaviour Management and Computer skills.

A Kids Camp was also held for the first time for some 25 children, ages four to 10 years old, who are children of teachers participating in the programme.

“I am telling you, I really learnt a lot from it, especially the don’ts [things that should not be done], because we have been doing it here. So we know we have to change, especially with classroom behaviour management. And I also learnt that we have to let the students love us and not be afraid of us [in order] to learn,” disclosed Ottey Clarke.

She cited the reprimanding of students in public as one of the don’ts which some teachers are guilty of.

Similar sentiments were expressed by her colleague Zinnette Brown McGregor, who is head of the Literacy Department at Godfrey Stewart High.

“They (Great Shape! volunteers) do not tell you that you are wrong. When we are discussing, they never say you are wrong. They always say there is another way of doing it, and I like that. And I believe that this is the way to go with our students as well. It means that we should tell them that they are not wrong, but there is another way to do things,” stated Brown McGregor, adding that she is excited to impart to her students what she has learnt, and she believes they are going to be excited as well.

Principal of Godfrey Stewart High School Theobold Fearon argued that the programme came “at an opportune time, when the school is undergoing a rebranding and repositioning phase.”

He said the knowledge imparted to the teachers will help them to grasp more modern research-based strategies, which will assist in more dynamic and effective teaching.

Leisha Craftchick, a Canadian volunteer teacher, had high praises for her Jamaican counterparts, whom she described as dedicated, wonderful and inspiring.

“It’s been a wonderful opportunity for me to come and collaborate with my colleagues in Jamaica, to share some best practices, to learn from each other in an effort to make the classroom experience back home and here more enriching for everyone involved,” stated Craftchick.

Communications Director for the 28-year-old Great Shape! Inc, Lucinda Kay, attributed the success of the programme to partnerships that have been built over the years.

“The reason that we are able to be so successful in Jamaica is because of our amazing partnerships. Great Shape! Incorporated, the Sandals Foundation, we collaborated with Godfrey Stewart High School, which has been an amazing host, and of course the Ministry of Education. So, when you bring all of these powerful forces together, it is easy to influence and motivate and make things happen. As you know, Great Shape! serves 40,000 people every year in Jamaica, and Teach the Teachers is one of many projects that we are able to pull off because of our partnerships,” explained Kay.