Casey Community School, Gallon Jug, Belize

My official title at the Casey Community School is principal, but this in no way sheds any light on a the duties that I carry out, or for that matter a typical day at the school.  First and foremost I am the standards 5 and 6 teacher (7th and 8th grade by the US reckoning).  Before school, after school, and during Monday and Friday morning assemblies I get to play the role of principal.  My third duty, and the only one that I am paid for (I donate my time as a teacher and principal - helps me rationalize my paycheck) is that of day time janitor at the school.

What do the duties of the day time janitor at the school include?  On any given day jobs may include, but are not limited to:  scorpion wrangler, bee keeper, snake hunter, garden waterer.  Of course those are the jobs that take place before I unlock the school doors in the morning.
We do have a great cleaning lady that comes after the school day is over, so my biggest undertaking during school hours has been an exploding toilet, courtesy of a standard 1 student (3rd grader) trying to dispose of his excess rice and beans after lunch to avoid getting in trouble at home for wasting food.  Rather traumatizing for me, as rice and beans are pretty much the food source around here and I've not been able to look at them the same way since.

The school day at the Casey Community School begins at 8am, give or take the amount of time needed for the school bus to run out of gas and get refueled, get unstuck from a vehicle eating pothole after rain, or any variety of other jungle maladies that reek havoc on punctuality in this part of the world. 
When the students do invariably arrive, each school day is started with the raising of the Belize flag (and singing of the Belize anthem on Mondays and Fridays).  After the flag is raised the students line up and are admitted to the school by class.  As each student enters the school they are greeted by name and with a handshake by the teacher that is on duty for the week.  This is a wonderful tradition that I will carry with me to any school that I may work at in the future - a wonderful way to start the day for the students and teachers.

Our assembly area, computer lab, school store, and so much more.

Recently we had the pleasure of hosting a group of student nurses that gave a seminar on basic first aid and hygiene.

Operating a school in the Belizean jungle is no easy feat.  Even the most basic school supplies are hard to come by, and the tropical jungle environment has a way of reeking havoc on all things metal, electronic, and paper.  Oh, and don't even think about trying to use tape to keep things on the walls.  The resourcefulness of the teachers at the school, past and present, is truly inspiring. 

Kinder

The school also has a number of benefactors throughout Belize and in the US and Canada that have helped to ensure that the classrooms have a great selection of books, the students have supplies for arts and crafts, and the teachers have plenty of stickers.  We also have laptop computers and wireless internet.  Pretty awesome for the kids!

My classroom

Home to Standards 5 and 6

 

















Our school day is basic, 8am-ish to 3pm-ish.  We have 7 periods in the school day with morning and afternoon recess, and lunch in the middle.  The current school make up is 44 students and 5 teachers.  The classes are divided up with Infant 1 & 2 together, Standards 1 & 2 together, Standards 3 & 4 together, and Standards 5 & 6 together.  Kinder is separate, but the Kinder and Infant teachers combine different combinations of their students for language arts, phonics, and math during the course of the school day.

Recess and lunch are deserving of their own post, so I'll keep this brief.  In addition to your typical playground fare we have horses that love to share the students' snacks.  

Our solitary basketball player.

Soccer is king of the recess activities, at least for the boys.

Heat is a big factor at the school.  Most of our petty cash for buying school supplies is generated by our juice and water sales, so I really can't complain.  The heat is a part of life down here, and the students aren't too bothered by it. 

9am on October 17, 2012.  Oh, and this is in the shade.

All of the classrooms have ceiling fans and lots of windows.  We also almost always have a breeze.  The one day this school year that the temperature dropped below 80 degrees in the morning I had three kids show up in winter coats.  Enough said.

More on the school to come...

AND back by popular demand:

The RANDOM ANIMAL SIGHTING of the week goes to the Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus  or armored catfish, previously known to me as the Plecostomus.  This guy was caught in a river in Gallon Jug.  These are apparently an invasive species and environmental hazard.  There is currently a $10 bounty in Gallon Jug for any of these fish caught, dead or alive.

Gallon Jug Guitars and More

The Gallon Jug estate is home to a diverse variety of projects and products.  The largest and most well know project is Gallon Jug's sustainable logging industry.  The 130,000 acre estate is divided into 80 zones.  Each year, depending on demand and environmental conditions, 1 or 2 of the zones get selectively logged for mahogany, cedar, poison wood and santa maria trees.  This makes for a 40 year sustainability plan for logging and replanting the trees around the estate.  The school takes an active role in the process, working with forestry officials to gather mahogany seeds.  The seeds are planted in a tree nursery and when the trees are ready the students again work with the forestry officials to replant the logged portions of the property.

Interestingly, the largest buyer of Gallon Jug lumber is the guitar industry.  Gibson, Les Paul, and Fender all use mahogany from Gallon Jug for their guitars.

Coffee has gone from hobby status at Gallon Jug to a big time big time business with around 150 acres of shade grown coffee currently in production.  Gallon Jug coffee is in high demand all over Belize and is currently being assessed for 'organic' status and export.
Since my arrival in August there have been huge amount of work done in preparation for the what is expected to be a record coffee harvest. 

I don't have much time for coffee personally, but I do like the ripe red coffee fruit, which has a sweet red pepper taste.

Last, but not least is the growing cattle industry in Gallon Jug.  If you have not been to Belize it will be hard to appreciate just how scarce beef is here.  I am no expert, but my assumption is that the temperatures and variety of large jungle cats each play a significant role in cattle not thriving. 
There is a running joke that the cows in Belize are all so skinny from being chased by jaguars. 

The Gallon Jug's ranch boasts around 800 of the healthiest looking cows that I have seen in Belize, including this hybrid variety of 'tiger' striped cows.  The stripes certainly couldn't hurt when it comes to avoiding the variety of predators that abound here.

 Though some of the cows have been observed being even more resourceful in the camouflage department.

AND FINALLY, the random animal sighting of the week goes to this golf ball sized relative of the triceratops, which nearly broke my window last night.