PHILIPSBURG – Governor Eugene Holiday delivered the keynote address to teachers of the Foundation Catholic Education St. Maarten SKOS on Teachers Formation Day 2017.
Teachers Formation Day started with a Prayer Service led by Parish Priest of St. Martin of Tours Parish, Rev. Fr. Adam Oleszczuk SVD, followed by an address from Dr. Marlon Halley, president of SKOS.
All present were then delighted with the presentation of the keynote address from Governor Holiday entitled: “The Teachers’ Commandment: Inspire Your Students to Make A Positive Difference.”
Governor Holiday reminded the teachers of a basic truth, that “teaching is the mother of all professions” and “as teachers it is your calling to be standard bearers of our society and as such it is incumbent on you to excel in doing so.” Teachers were recommended to live by the teachers’ commandment “to inspire each generation of students that pass through your classrooms to make a positive difference.” His presentation was very uplifting and inspiring.
The morning continued with sharing from Executive Director Lilia Aventurin-Hodge, who gave the teachers some “food for thought.”
The teachers and staff of SKOS were then invited to participate in one of the 22 workshops that were prepared for them. The presenters of these workshops were from locally based institutions from the community, teachers of SKOS, NIA and Dow’s Musical Foundation.
“We are very proud of our local presenters and would like to thank them very much for putting our theme into practice: We are called to share with others. They surely shared their talents and gifts with us,” said a press release from Coordinator Religious Education, Chairperson SKOS Activity Committee Carmen Bowers-Lake.