One School’s Journey to Transform Community and Learning

The Ministry of Education’s “MoRE Campaign” is pushing schools nationwide to live up to its name – be more, do more. The initiative calls on educators to go beyond the classroom and step up in areas like technology, health, and community engagement. Tonight, in Looking on the Bright Side, Sabreena Daly heads to Orange Walk to spotlight one school leading the charge. By bridging the gap between classroom and home, they’re showing how a united community can drive real change. Here’s that story.

 

Sabreena Daly, Reporting

It was a fitting welcome for a dignitary. Except, arriving at Chapel School in Orange Walk District was News 5, searching for what we are told is a school doing more. A drumline at the gate. An arch of balloons on display. This was a celebration. And beyond the entrance, the rhythm shifts. The drums give way to movement. Dancers taking the grounds, arms and feet telling a story the drumline started.

 

Sabreena Daly

“Talk about a welcome!”

 

Chapel School, with a population of two hundred and thirty students, has earned its place in the Ministry of Education’s MoRe campaign. Involved. Inclusive. But the spectacle at the gate is only part of the picture. Step into a Standard 1 classroom, and things get a bit more quiet. This morning Gustavo dropped off his son, Emilio. For this father, the “more” in Chapel School is measured by his son’s confidence.

 

Gustavo Castaneda, President, PTA

“Emilio likes the school because everybody is friend- friendly, and, um, everybody gets involved in his education.”

 

That sense of security doesn’t happen by chance. At Chapel School, it is intentional. Principal Heidi Tejada describes it as “bridging the gap”.

 

Heidi Tejada, Principal, Chapel School

“I want the people and the community, to see our Christian school as embracing everyone, embracing the parents, the students, and the teachers, and that we work as a team.”

 

Bridging that gap means moving beyond just theory. The aim is to shift the old mentality that education is solely the school’s job, and instead, get everyone onboard, including parents.

 

Heidi Tejada

“It is very important for us to include our parents because the responsibility is shared among the teacher, the parent, and the student. And the more the parents they come, the more engaged the students are.”

 

That engagement isn’t simply a feel-good metric. Principal Tejada notes that this shift has shown a tangible rise in student attendance and motivation. And it’s more than just parent involvement. Where a course is normally taught inside a classroom, some days it’s taken out on the lawn.

 

A lesson on composting results in the building of a botanical garden. Students fill a computer lab to learn coding. There is sports. There’s Creative Arts. And every student is included, even the differently abled. Chapel School has embraced every aspect of competency-based learning. It’s exactly the kind of “extra mile” performance that Hector Morales, Principal Education Officer for Orange Walk, is looking for across the district.

 

Hector Morales, Principal Education Officer, Orange Walk

“And that’s what we want to do. We want to highlight the kind of activities, kind of work that Chapel is doing, and we want all the schools to do the same, regardless if they are recognized or not.”

 

The MoRE Campaign was launched as a national challenge to transform the landscape of education in Belize. At Chapel School, they haven’t just met that challenge; they’ve set the tempo for it. But as we’ve seen today, this transformation isn’t just about physical buildings or the innovative faculty. The real shift is happening in the hearts of the community and the parents who have decided that a child’s education is no longer a task to be delegated, but a responsibility to be shared.

 

Gustavo Castaneda

“Traditionally parents would say, “Well, I will hand the school our education, the education of my child,” which is not so. Education comes from the school as well as from the parent, from us parents, and from the community itself.”

 

It is this synergy, this “paddling in the same boat”, that ensures students like Emilio have more than just a seat in a classroom; they have a foundation for life. When the community decides to be more, our children are empowered to do more. Looking on the Bright Side, I’m Sabreena Daly.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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