On Tuesday after School Dr. C informed me along with Megan, Brittany, and Savannah (& As an FYI-I now refer to all of us as "The SPED Girls) that we would get to go Inland with her on Wednesday to go to Stella Maris School. I got SO EXCITED because I had a few friends (who were Special Education Majors) who came to the Belize International Field Experience last year and I heard about how great Stella Maris was and COULD NOT WAIT to see it for myself!
Stella Maris School is a School located in Belize City that just beside the Ministry of Education. It is the ONE AND ONLY School IN THE COUNTRY that is for Students with Special Needs. Stella Maris School is a Government School meaning that it is run by the Ministry of Education.
Dr. C, The SPED Girls, and I got on the 6:30 a.m. Water Taxi leaving from San Pedro and made a stop at Caye Caulker to pick up more passengers on the Water Taxi. We got to Belize City at around 8:00 a.m. and then got a Taxi Ride to Stella Maris. We met someone from the Ministry of Education and then he walked us over to Stella Maris and we were introduced to Miss Joy (the principal of Stella Maris). She said she would give us a Tour of the School at 9:00 a.m. and we could spend time talking to the students and/or teachers until then. After Dr. C left to give her Presentation about PBIS at the Ministry of Education The SPED Girls and I started playing with the kids on the playground. One little boy gave each one of us a hug and I was pretty sure that my heart was going to burst out of my chest. I enjoy Isla Bonita but I just can't explain the feeling of being around students with special needs. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. While at Stella Maris all day I just had this feeling that I just belong with those students. I was definitely reminded on Wednesday that I am in the right field! Before the School Day started I noticed a couple of girls signing so I of course couldn't resist going over there seeing if I could put my Sign Language knowledge to use (from taking ASL-101 and ASL-102 at UNCW) and possibly communicate with them. I was able to ask if the students if they were deaf, ask their ages, tell them where I was from, and tell them that I was a teacher. I saw one of the teachers signing with the students and asked her is she was their teacher and she said she was. I told her my name and explained to her why I was there a Stella Maris and she was very welcoming to us being there.
The SPED Girls and I spent some time talking as the students dispersed to their Classrooms and while waiting for Miss Joy to give us a Tour of Stella Maris. Miss Joy first showed us the School Cafeteria and Kitchen since they were near the Office. Miss Joy showed us an empty coop and told us that the school likes to incorporate Agriculture into their Practical Curriculum and then informed us that just last week they slaughtered 50 chickens. Talk about an interesting fact. Miss Joy then showed us a building that had Sewing Machines in it. After that we started seeing the Classrooms and the first ones we saw were the three Infant Classrooms. Miss Joy then showed us the Gardens at the School and they currently had Cucumbers that were growing. I asked Miss Joy a few questions and learned that Stella Maris has been open since 1958, she started teaching at Stella Maris, she's been the principal at Stella Maris since 2004, and she has worked at Stella Maris for a total of 31 years. We also learned that there aren't any specific qualifications required for the teachers at Stella Maris to teach there like there are for teachers in the States to teach Special Education but they do have a Training at the Ministry of Education about working with students with Special Needs before each School Year starts. The one requirement for each of the teachers at Stella Maris is that they ARE required to learn Sign Language since there are 15 students who have a hearing loss of somesort. After walking and talking with Miss Joy she continued showing us the Classrooms and we saw three Upper Division Classrooms. After that Miss Joy showed us the Adult Autism Classroom, the Reading Group Room, and the kitchen where the students cook. We also got to see the Physiotherapy Room and meet the Physical Therapist there. After seeing the Library (that is called The Hector Hoare Resource Centre) and meeting the Librarian (Marlin - who used to be a student at Stella Maris), we saw the three Middle Division Classrooms. As Miss Joy took us into each Classroom she would introduce us to them saying that we were Special Education Majors visiting the School and everyone was so welcoming to us. Once Miss Joy finished showing us around the School she said that she would leave us and let us pick to observe whichever Classrooms we wanted to see and that was that. I was amazed how she just let us have the freedom to basically just do what we wanted just like that.
Megan and I decided to check out the Adult Autism Classroom and Megan and I got to observe them during their Math Block while they worked on telling time. They each got up to pick their clocks (that they made at a previous time) and then worked on counting the hours on the clock. Their classroom was so neat because with it being an older age they have a lot of Daily Living Skills they need to practice and they had all of the means and materials to do so. They had an area to wash dishes, they had a dining table, they had an area of personal care items, and they even had a bedroom to practice making a bed. I also loved the visual schedules that the Classroom had as well because it's EXACTLY the same things that we use in our Autism Classrooms in the States as well. After the Math Block it was time for the School Break so The SPED Girls and I spent time playing outside with the students and taking pictures with them. During the break one of the girls from one of the Middle Division Classroom who is deaf (her name is Annie) came up to me since she found out I sign so I started signing with her a little bit. Annie and a few other students in her Class wanted me to go to their Classroom with them after break so I did. In their classroom one of the teachers is deaf as well and I had introduced myself to him and signed to him earlier when Miss Joy introduced us SPED Girls. The Class was doing Language Arts. The teacher wrote four questions on the board regarding synonyms and opposites and barely had to give any directions to the students. The students immediately got their notebooks out after the teacher started writing on the chalkboard, started writing down the questions, answered the questions, and took them to the teacher to get graded. After the students got their papers graded they would come up to me and show me how they did. Annie spent some time telling me each of the sign names for the students so that was neat. I also spent a good bit of time signing with the teacher who is deaf (I hate I didn't get his name). I haven't practiced signing in a while so I was definitely rusty but it was good getting some practice. I knew from taking ASL that ASL is NOT a universal language. Each country has their own Sign Language but I always heard that different sign languages can still communicate and between fingerspelling and similar signs the teacher and I were able to communicate fairly well. He was very patient with me as signing slowly, but surely, came back to me. One of the fun things that happened while signing with the teacher was I learned the sign for Belize! You make the letter "B" and then move it in front of you in the shape of a "Z." I THINK IT'S THE NEATEST THING. I was nervous to start signing with the girls earlier in the morning but I'm so glad I did because the more I signed, the more comfortable I got with it. I am SO GLAD that I took a chance and just put forth the effort in trying to communicate with everyone at School. Lunch started at 11:45 a.m. and all of the students ate in the Cafeteria together at the same time and the teachers left Campus to get their lunch. The SPED Girls and I got lunch at a Belizean Chinese Restaurant across the street from Stella Maris and then had fun talking about our experiences in the different Classrooms we got to visit.
I honestly just love Stella Maris SO MUCH. My heart was SO FULL after being there just four hours on Wednesday. I honestly hated that we had to leave when we did but after talking with Dr. C I believe we'll be able to go back one more day to visit sometime after Easter Break when Dr. C has to take another trip Inland and I ALREADY CANNOT WAIT TO GO! I am so excited and am looking forward to learning more about Stella Maris and spending more time with the students! I had no idea what to expect when we went to Stella Maris but it was such a wonderful experience! I was so impressed by it. Stella Maris is an incredible School and I have officially fallen in love with it. I can honestly say that Wednesday has definitely been one of the top highlights of my time here in Belize so far! It was actually probably the best day that I've had yet. I am truly so thankful that Dr. C provided us SPED Girls the opportunity to go visit Stella Maris. IT WAS TRULY AMAZING.
I came across your blog post while searching for Stella Maris' school website. I go to college in New York and every year our college sends a group of education/speech pathology students down to teach at Stella Maris school for 2 weeks. I absolutely fell in love with the school and the students there too, so it was great to relive my experience by reading your post! I remember the girls who signed were so sweet. They assigned each of us a specific sign for our name, and they used to write me notes every day at recess saying "I love you. You're so pretty and nice". We all became so close with the students and I will never forget the one girl's face on our last day as we were pulling out of the driveway there were tears streaming down her face while she signed "I will miss you".It was such an amazing experience. Thanks for sharing yours!
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