Grand Turk Community College Graduation

Last night Aliatte and Rueben graduated from the Community College on Grand Turk. Deneen and I went up. It poured rain. But that did not put a dampener on the event. The auditorium was so packed that we could not get in, but we stood in a back room and listened.

Aliatte graduated with an associates degree in elementary education. She was recognized for having the highest grade out of her class for her teaching practicum. She has been working at the museum for six years and has been indispensable to me for the three years I have been here.

Aliatte has grown in her abilities to work with children through the museum's Children's Club program. She actually told me once that her work in the Children's Club is why she wanted to go into teaching.

Rueben graduated with an associates degree in Electrical Engineering. He was the only one in this program to graduate this year. I knew Rueben from when Martin was at HR Robinson High School, but when we began the After School Homework Program after the September 2008 hurricanes Rueben began coming to the museum almost everyday.

I worked with him extensively on preparing a college application, I helped him with his essay, and wrote a recommendation for him. He is a good guy, and I really want him to succeed. He was accepted to the engineering program at Leicester University. He is waiting to see if he will be one of the few from the TCI to get a scholarship this year.

One of the issues here is that there was not enough accountability in the government scholarships that were given out in the past. An article in the paper a few months ago suggested that many students simply took there scholarships to the US but failed to complete their degrees. Now there is only a hand full of scholarships available and it is young people like Ruben who will be bearing the brunt...