Posted on December 16, 2008
Four distinguished visitors
from the Central American nation of
Belize were the featured
guests at a breakfast and program
held on Monday, Dec. 8, in the Dunn
Conference Room of Crimson Hall.
Dr. Anna Bradfield,
dean of the School of Education and
Allied Studies, introduced the
visitors, which included the
Honorable Dr. Patrick Faber,
Belize's minister of
education; Carol Babb,
assistant to the minister of
education/general manager;
Denise Robateau, director
of literacy; and Candy
Armstrong, director of
literacy programs.
"Most of you know that one of our
own, Dr. Lisa Battaglino,
professor of special education, has
been spending this year as a
presidential fellow," said Dr.
Bradfield, "and as the focus of her
fellowship she has been working with
the people you'll meet today
regarding a partnership between
Belize and Bridgewater State
College, as a means to improve
programs in
Belize for children at risk
and for children with disabilities."
In his remarks, Dr. Faber said he
was "very pleased and very
appreciative" of the work on behalf
of education that Dr. Battaglino has
done in his country over the past
year.
"The partnership that Dr. Battaglino
has helped establish will help us
improve teacher training in
Belize, which is a crucial to
our nation. We have a large
percentage of our teachers that
aren't trained. We are very serious
about improving this situation," he
said. "I'm here today to signal how
important this relationship between
us and your institution is to the
people and the government of
Belize because you're helping
us to address the teacher quality
situation."
Ms. Robateau addressed the audience
on the subject of the Caribbean
Centre for Excellence in Teacher
Training (C-CETT), which has been
established to further the aims
which Minister Faber had described.
C-CETT is funded in part by the U.S.
Agency for International Development
and is being implemented through its
partnership with BSC. Since its
inception in 2003, the center has
expanded its mission to six
elementary schools, helping increase
the reading skills of about 900
students.
"Belize
is the only Central American country
which has English as an official
language, and we are a multi-ethnic
nation with diverse languages,
including Creole, Spanish, Mayan,
Chinese, German and English," Ms.
Robateau said. "Creole is the glue -
the language spoken by everyone." As
a result "many challenges are
imposed on children's English oral
language development."
The connection that's been developed
between Bridgewater and
Belize has allowed educators
there to focus on "upgrading the
skills of 30 teachers in grades one
through three so that they become
more effective instructors," Ms.
Robateau said.
The collaboration between
Belize and Bridgewater, Ms.
Babb said, "is one we hope and trust
will continue to grow. We consider
ourselves fortunate indeed to have
this strong educational partnership
with Bridgewater State College."
(Story and photos by David K.
Wilson, '71, Office of Institutional
Communications)