Arima Boys Govt School: Proud history, bright future

ESTABLISHED in 1876, with just 149 students, Arima Boys Government School is the oldest school in the Arima Borough. Located on King Street, Arima, notable names in the fields of politics, sports, activism and the arts have walked the school's hallways.

Reflective of this are the names of the school's sport houses – CLR James, Kitchener, Larry Gomes and Yearwood. The names are meant to honour prominent past students, activist CLR James, calypso pioneer Lord Kitchener, cricketer Larry Gomes and Olympian Lennox Yearwood.

Today, the school's student population of over 600 is standing on the shoulders of those that came before to continue pursuing excellence.

Newsday spoke to students actively involved in the school's extracurricular activities and principal, Kurt Flemming, who shared the importance of those activities.

Principal since 2009, Flemming said, "At one point in time, the school had a challenge where discipline was concerned."

On becoming the school's principal, he also faced academic challenges and recalled the school was, at one point, under academic watch by the Ministry of Education.

Having pursued doctoral studies with a thesis focusing on the academic underachievement of males, Flemming saw the need to apply his educational psychology background to the school's circumstances.

"I felt I needed to make a contribution towards the boys' development."

In Flemming's strategic plan to improve discipline and academic performance it was important to incorporate sports, art and leadership activities. The school now has eight clubs which focuses on physical and intellectual development. They range from football, cricket, table tennis, an in-house karate club, a school choir, a parang group and scouts.

"In terms of student development, physical and holistic development is paramount. The boys needed to be more balanced and extracurricular activities have the ability help them find themselves and be more self-aware."

In the Sanfest from 2012 - 2017, the school has won best art school, best craft, best picture making, best 3d piece, best poster and best artist. From 2016 -2017 at Sanfest they have also won best modern dance, best male dancer and best dancer overall.

In the field of sports the school has produced the likes of former national footballer Clayton Ince and cricketers Sunil Narine and Kevon Cooper. It should come as no surprise that the school is the 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf Next Play champions, the 2017 national Under-15 champions and the 2018 national Under-12 championship runner up. The school was also a divisional winner in the 2006 Atlantic LNG Primary Schools Cricket League.

A member of the school's football team Nekil Augustus said, "Playing football feels great and I am thankful I was allowed to join football."

Team Captain Jeremiah Charles thanked the school for believing in their talent. Charles, who aspires to attend Queen's Royal College and represent TT in football one day, said, "The principal gives us a lot of motivational talks about different people and we learn a lot of different stuff."

Tristan Gopee, a school prefect, cricket team member and Standard Four student at the school spoke about the importance of his non-academic activities.

"I love it because it's my dream to play cricket for the West Indies. Being a school prefect helps because it teaches me discipline and I get to support my peers."

With the school's successful performance in national competitions, the positive feedback he's received from students and the improvement in student performance he has seen, Flemming said that putting focus on extracurricular activities has had transformative effects on the school's student population.

On the correlation between those activities and improved behaviour, Flemming said, "What we recognised is that when the boys started to play in teams, we saw a greater brotherhood."

Now the school's focus is on strengthening leadership skills and in 2017 a student council was developed. Apart from assisting within, student council members are mobilising the student body to assist in community outreach projects to help foster a spirit of giving back. In the wake of the October 2018 floods in TT, student council members did a soup kitchen in the affected Greenvale community.

Every Friday the student council has a school news broadcasting programme where they inform their peers of local, regional and international news.

Student council member Tyler Taylor is elated to be on council and said, "It feels good as we get to help in school activities and supervise classes.

"The school is like a second home to me because I spend most of my days here and the teachers are like second parents to me."

Taylor hopes that every child can have the experience he has at the school and wants to see the school topping the Secondary Entrance Assessment frequently in the future.

Taylor's fellow council member Abijah Tsoi-A-Sue added, "It feels good that we help children learn, understand and be better."

The student council is now working on a 'Green Go' garden project which will be growing palm trees. Once mature and groomed, the trees will be rented to different functions to help raise funds for the school. They are also planting smaller crops with the hopes of starting a Saturday market where food and fresh produce will be sold.

In 1991, the school's original building had been burnt in an accidental fire. Following the fire and its subsequent displacement of students, it took years for the school to recover but it did to continue its long-standing legacy.

Flemming looks to that moment as a measure of the school's strength even as it has faced discipline and academic problems in the past. He believes students like Charles, Taylor, Augustus and Gopee continue the culture of excellence that came before them.

With Lord Kitchener being a past student, people can also look forward to what the school produces in the future. Standard five student Sekel McIntosh is the 2019 Junior Soca Monarch. He successfully defended his crown this year and going after the 2020 primary schools Intellectual Chutney Soca Monarch title.

Describing the school as educational, holistic and fun, McIntosh said, "It feels very exciting to be a student of the school because there are many activities which help children be better when they grow up.

"I think it is important to represent the school because you learn to balance your schedule and how to be more active."