During the week of Jan. 25th the students of St. Dominic High School were involved in a variety of workshops. While 1st and 2nd formers got as many as 15 different workshops on health and sexuality topics, the 3rd and 4th formers had a program that was geared towards career exploration. To find out more about the workshop topics and the student experiences, click "read more" below.

Domestic Violence Workshop by Safe Haven (Oldine Bryson)

Presenters and topics were the following:

Health & Sexuality Workshops Contacts

Students were very enthusiastic as shown by the reactions:  

Dominique, "My favourite was self defence and Physical therapy." Pooja said, "I learned a bunch of things that will help me later on in life from the STD workshops and I will never brush my teeth my way again after Mr. Halley's workshop." Shaddai said she like sex and the teenager self defence and physical therapy most. Thimberly Morgan said the workshops were interesting. "Some people thought it (STD's ) was too graphic but I though it was interesting" she said. Benilsa and Erdade expressed similar sentiments. Benilsa: "I was taught  to wait for the right time to have sex." Erdade said she it helped me to want to wait and abstain until I know that I am ready to handle sex.

The Workshops are held every two years for First and second formers. While the main responsibility for informing students about health and sexuality lies with the parents the School directorate believes that the school has a role to play in these matters as well. Every student who comes through St. Domicic High School experiences these workshops before they leave.

For the career exploration program it is important to realize that students have to make early choices in their lives. As of the age of 14 they have to choose certain subjects and by the time they teach the examination class they are expected to know what further study to choose. Students do not have the option on St. Maarten to visit several universities and go to Open Houses. For that reason the school is always very happy with the input of the University of St. Maarten.

The 3^rd Formers were scheduled for a three day Career workshop. The purpose of this workshop was to introduce the students to the job market and to get them acquainted with Community Service.

students learning some self-defense!

Students also went out to visit USM, The White and Yellow Cross, Le Grand Marche and the new Fire station. They were impressed by the functioning of these businesses and organizations.

During the last day of the career program all students went Job-shadowing with their parents or other relatives. They experienced the daily routine and were able to work with their supervisors.

After the workshops students continue to work on their career projects and assignments, which will count towards their report cards.  

The goal for Form 4 students during the career week was to assist students in selecting a specific career path. The students orientated themselves and worked for one week in a business or organization. Involved were hotels, schools, medical centers, banks and several other businesses dealing with import-export, ICT, travel and transportation and the media. Daily reports were sent to school by email and teachers visited the businesses.

Overall students expressed great appreciation for the opportunities that were offered to them and they indicated that they learnt to understand the world of work a lot better. Their concept of, for example, a school changed during the course of the week. Instead of being a student and making the shift to the role of a teacher was quite a big difference. Students who worked in businesses learnt that setting up a business and keeping it running was a lot more complicated than they thought before. Some students even got job offers for the weekends and summer vacation.

The students and staff of the St. Dominic High School would like to express their sincere thanks to all persons, businesses and organizations who offered their help in making the workshop and career week an unforgettable learning experience.

Written by the Organizers of the workshops, Mr. Garfield (Form 1 and 2) , Ms. Belzer and Mrs. Wilson-de Weever (Form 3) and Ms. Angad Gaur (Form 4).