For the past two years for one week each term, over 300 grade 11 students ages 14 – 16 looked forward to the presentations on all things Caymanian by Ms Denise Bodden.
Ms Bodden was always willing to fit us into her very busy schedule. She was labelled by the students as Cayman’s walking history book.
The students were extremely impressed with her presentations because they were interactive and all of the students enjoyed getting involved. Many students had not received this information before and they were happy to be learning it.
The presentations included historic sites and buildings, traditional homes and past industries such as sharking, cotton, ship building, turtling, rope making and phosphate.
They were also given presentations on endemic trees, national symbols, traditional food, bush teas, tree dyeing, mangroves, the Blue Iguana Project and historic artefacts, which included shoes, clothing, toys and crafts.
The students all wanted to know how we could preserve the old homes around the Island and that the Government and developers should be involved not only with saving the old homes and buildings but the trees as well. The students appreciated the significance of our national tree, the Silver Thatch Palm and truly felt that these palms should be a part of the landscape. They also felt that the mangroves must be preserved because of the role they play in our environment.
Some of the students even claimed that they were going to share their new-found knowledge with their parents and to see what they could do to help preserve the environment and historic sites of these islands.
We thank the National Trust and Ms Bodden for coming into our classroom at John Gray High and giving presentations, interacting with the students, making them more aware and informed about their environment and the importance of preserving the little that we have left and to keep our history and culture alive for future generations.
Ms. Webster
John Gray High School
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