The Spirit of Christmas is indeed divine. It reaches to every corner of our country and the world. Like the Catholic faith, it is all-inclusive and touches everyone no matter how great or small they may seem to be. Matelot Community College held a Christmas Concert on Wednesday, December 6, 2006.

In recent times, the school had been plagued with administrative problems which challenged the culture and unity of the village. However, the concert presentations showed God’s will for Matelot to be an example of His saving grace.

Kent Jardine, the new acting principal, talks about just wanting to hold on until someone else is appointed but in this interim, he has really been an inspiration and has given hope to the staff and parents of both the primary and secondary levels of the school.

Football fiesta at Matelot community grounds

The staff of the primary school especially Perilou Kirton and Betty-Ann Shears, who are senior teachers, really tried to give the children experiences in and out of the community.

Together with Ms Salvary and Ms Jobe, a contract teacher, they organised an outing to Port of Spain and a wonderful Christmas programme for the primary school children.

The other two contract teachers, Mr Moolchan and Mr Woods persevered in the area of sports to develop team spirit among students and teachers. The OJTs, clerical workers and ancillary staff have worked very hard this past term. This term has even seen children like Renaldo and Herdis trying to do their best at school. 

The climax of all activities was the Christmas Concert. This event brought one Clyde Joseph into action again. Already, he was doing wonders to restore the school garden and animal shed and developing the talent of students in the area of music. It was such a joy to see the Holy Spirit moving dedicated parents to work with the entire staff in an effort to demonstrate the resilience of the people in Matelot.

If the food at the staff luncheon represented the flavour of the village, then one can feel confident of being in a place that is unique and special. There is still a lot of work to be done before the community can be said to be one that is all embracing and productive but there should be no doubt that the school has potential and goodwill.

All the stakeholders of the education system try very hard to give something positive to what is considered a deprived area. There is a great need for meaningful contributions to be made; and so acceptance, cooperation and collaboration is critical, in making Matelot which is in the country’s oldest parish, a place that resembles heaven.