News
Educators Attended United: The National Conference on School Leadership in Nashville, TN, USA, 15 – 17th July 2024
PRESS RELEASE
FROM THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
YOUTH, SPORTS AND CULTURE
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands – Thursday, 25 July 2024: The team comprised of four (4) of the newly appointed vice-principals – Monique Cox, Eliza Simons Primary; Vanda Harvey, Thelma Lightbourne Primary; Sharonica Grant, Oseta Jolly Primary; Porsha Robinson Saunders, Ianthe Pratt Primary; Principal, Earleen Elliott, Iris Stubbs Primary; and Education Officer, Sarah Kennedy.
Jon Gordon – Best-Selling Author
The participants attending this conference are current members of the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) as International Associates. The NAESP, founded in 1921, is a professional Organisation serving elementary and middle school principals. It supports school leaders in providing students with a well-rounded and complete education, which includes access to high-quality early learning, arts integration, and afterschool and summer learning; and strengthens the principal pipeline through mentor training and support for early career principals, assistant principals, and aspiring principals.
The 2024 UNITED Conference, powered by NAESP and NASSP (National Association of Secondary School Principals)
focused on these themes:
- Building Leadership Capacity
- Instructional Leadership
- Leveraging Student Voice and Agency
- School Climate, Culture, and Inclusivity
- Whole School Wellness
Keynote Speakers for the event were:
- Jon Gordon – Best-Selling Author
- Rehema Ellis – Chief Education Correspondent for NBC News
- Sal Khan – founder and CEO of Khan Academy
A highlight of the conference expressed by Monique Cox, was the session on “Leading with Purpose” presented by Thomas Murray. He emphasised the importance of aligning leadership practices with a clear, impactful mission and demonstrated various team–building activities. The key takeaways include:
- Clarity of Vision: Effective leaders must articulate a clear and compelling vision that resonates with their team and stakeholders, ensuring everyone understands and is committed to the common goal.
Rehema Ellis – Chief Education Correspondent for NBC News
- Values-Driven Leadership: Leading with purpose involves integrating core values into decision-making processes, fostering a culture of integrity, and setting an example for others to follow.
- Empowering Others: Purposeful leaders empower their teams by providing the tools, support, and autonomy needed to innovate and excel, thus creating a more engaged and motivated workforce.
- Sustainable Impact: Leadership with purpose prioritises long-term, sustainable impact over short-term gains, focusing on initiatives that benefit society and the environment.
- Resilience and Adaptability: Leaders must be resilient and adaptable, able to navigate challenges while staying true to their purpose, thereby inspiring confidence and perseverance in their teams.
Porsha Robinson-Saunders noted, “A school staff that is divided and disconnected is weak and powerless. A school staff that is united is connected and powerful.” These were words expressed by Jon Gordon, Keynote Speaker, on Building Leadership Capacity; Expanding Career Building and Professional Leadership Skills.” Her key takeaways include:
1. Embrace positivity: By infusing positivity into everything, you can bring things to life and experience better, smoother days.
2. Celebrate teachers and students: Learning to celebrate both students and staff is crucial. When students and teachers feel valued and appreciated, it positively impacts the school environment and dynamics.
3. Embrace inclusive learning: It’s essential to include students with special needs in the learning process, fostering an environment of diversity and support within the school community.
4. Celebrate your school: Allow parents to clearly see the success of the school. By highlighting achievements and milestones, you can build a stronger connection between the school and the community.
5. Connect and network: Create a community of practice among peers in your field and position. Sharing ideas, being flexible, and approaching discussions with an open mind can lead to valuable collaborations and professional growth.
Sal Khan – founder and CEO of Khan Academy
Education Officer Sarah Kennedy commented that as Leaders, they were “given the opportunity to immerse themselves in a rich learning environment, empowering themselves to become effective change agents while focusing on their own professional growth. They plan to use the knowledge learned from top-notch speakers and other School Leaders to make more powerful contributions to improving their schools and advancing educational equity for their students.”
Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture, the Hon. Rachel Taylor, added, “The mandate of the Ministry is to build human capital through the promotion of lifelong learning. Building the capacity of our leaders in education puts them in a better position to transform their schools as they address the wholistic needs of their institutions. I am excited about the potential impact of the conference and look forward to the meaningful changes that can and will occur as a result of the knowledge and skills acquired at the conference. The Ministry’s aim is to support and encourage transformational leadership in our schools. Congratulations team! I wish you a productive academic year 2024/2025 and beyond.”
The team is already making plans to participate in UNITED 2025. In addition, the members of the team will share and implement the strategies they learned with their colleagues and they will strengthen the partnerships they’ve forged with other principals and vice principals from various nations.
Attending UNITED LEADERSHIP Conference provided access to valuable resources and a broad network of educators.
February is National Self- Check Month and family medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic, OH, John Hanicak, MD, highlights why at home self-checks are extremely important when it comes to not just early cancer detection but identifying other illnesses too and offers tips on what to look out for.
“Sometimes I look at them as sort of like your check engine light on the car, just like there would be a red flashing light that tells you that
there’s something wrong with a car and prompts you to bring that in and get serviced. Your body does the same thing. It gives you warning signs to look into that symptom a little bit further,” said Hanicak.
Dr. Hanicak said self-checks are going to be a little different for everyone.
However, in general, he recommends looking for anything that may seem abnormal, such as unexplained weight loss, blood in your urine, bumps and bruises that won’t heal, and changes in bowel habits.
For example, if you suddenly start going to the bathroom a lot more than you used to, that could be a sign of something more serious.
He also suggests doing regular skin checks and documenting any moles or spots that start to look different.
“Realize that you are your own person. There’s nobody else in the world exactly like you. You’ve got your own set of ideas, your own family history and your own genetics. Know what is normal for you, and when that changes, that’s the kind of thing that we would be interested in talking about,” said Dr. Hanicak.
Dr. Hanicak notes that self-checks are not meant to replace cancer screenings, as those are just as important to keep up with.
Press Release: Cleveland Clinic
PM: Project delivers on promise and invests in youth, sports and national development
GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — Calling it the fulfillment of a major commitment to the island, Prime Minister Philip Davis led the official groundbreaking for the Grand Bahama Aquatic Centre, a facility the government says will transform sports development and create new opportunities for young athletes.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex on February 12, the Prime Minister said the project represents more than bricks and mortar
— it is an investment in people, national pride and long-term economic activity. The planned complex will feature a modern 50-metre competition pool, designed to meet international standards for training and regional and global swim meets. Davis said the facility will give Bahamian swimmers a home capable of producing world-class performance while also providing a space for community recreation, learn-to-swim programmes and water safety training.
He noted that Grand Bahama has long produced outstanding athletes despite limited infrastructure and said the new centre is intended to correct that imbalance, positioning the island as a hub for aquatic sports and sports tourism.
The Prime Minister also linked the development to the broader national recovery and revitalisation of Grand Bahama, describing the project as part of a strategy to expand opportunities for young people, create jobs during construction and stimulate activity for small businesses once operational.
The Aquatic Centre, he said, stands as proof that promises made to Grand Bahama are being delivered.
The project is expected to support athlete development, attract competitions, and provide a safe, modern environment for residents to access swimming and water-based programmes for generations to come.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
The Bahamas, February 15, 2026 – For the better part of three years, Bahamians have been told that major Afreximbank financing would help transform access to capital, rebuild infrastructure and unlock economic growth across the islands. The headline figures are large. The signing ceremonies are high profile. The language is ambitious. What remains far harder to see is the measurable impact in the daily lives of the people those announcements are meant to serve.
The Government’s push to secure up to $100 million from Afreximbank for roughly 200 miles of Family Island roads dates back to 2025. In
its February 11 disclosure, the bank outlined a receivables-discounting facility — a structure that allows a contractor to be paid early once work is completed, certified and invoiced, with the Government settling the bill later. It is not cash placed into the economy upfront. It does not, by itself, build a single mile of road. Every dollar depends on work first being delivered and approved.
The wider framework has been described as support for “climate-resilient and trade-enhancing infrastructure,” a phrase that, in practical terms, should mean projects that lower the cost of doing business, move people and goods faster, and keep the economy functioning. But for communities, that promise becomes real only when the projects are named, the standards are defined and a clear timeline is given for when work will begin — and when it will be finished.
Bahamians have seen this moment before.
In 2023, a $30 million Afreximbank facility for the Bahamas Development Bank was hailed as a breakthrough that would expand access to financing for local enterprise. It worked in one immediate and measurable way: it encouraged businesses to apply. Established, revenue-generating Bahamian companies responded to the call, prepared plans, and entered a process they believed had been capitalised to support growth. The unanswered question is how much of that capital has reached the private sector in a form that allowed those businesses to expand, hire and generate new economic activity.
Because development is not measured in the size of announcements.
It is measured in loans disbursed, projects completed and businesses expanded.
The pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. In June 2024, when Afreximbank held its inaugural Caribbean Annual Meetings in Nassau,
Grand Bahama was presented as the future home of an Afro-Caribbean marketplace said to carry tens of millions of dollars in investment. What was confirmed at that stage was a $1.86 million project-preparation facility — funding for studies and planning to make the development bankable, not construction financing. The larger build-out remains dependent on additional approvals, land acquisition and further capital.
This distinction — between financing announced and financing that produces visible, measurable outcomes — is now at the centre of the national conversation.
Because while the numbers grow larger on paper, entrepreneurs still describe access to capital as out of reach, and communities across the Family Islands are still waiting to see where the work will start.
And in an economy where stalled growth translates into lost opportunity, rising frustration and real social consequences, the gap between promise and delivery is no longer a communications issue.
It is an inability to convert announcements into outcomes.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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