Signal Hill Secondary celebrates 45 years of excellence in learning

WITH its motto, Readiness is the key, Signal Hill Secondary School, Tobago, has grown incrementally as a learning institution.

The school, which welcomed its first batch of students on February 7, 1977, is celebrating its 45th anniversary.

And while it did not host any in-person activities to commemorate the milestone owing to the covid19 pandemic an attempt was made to acknowledge the observance.

Building on a project they had started two years ago, when the school celebrated its 43rd anniversary, teachers Patrice Caruth-Jack and Kari Manswell decided this year to put the spotlight on past principals, teachers and students.

Caruth-Jack said they conducted interviews with alumni who had attained excellence for in a range of disciplines. All of the interviews were captured on video.

“For our 43rd anniversary, before covid19, we did a big production where we interviewed the current batch of students asking them what they loved about Signal Hill. We also used a drone and had them spelling out the letters of the school. But this year the focus was on past students and teachers,” she recalled in a Sunday Newsday interview.

“We invited students to send in their photos when they were at school and it was so much fun to see those pictures from all those years groups flowing.”

Among those interviewed were former principal Allison Potts, retired vice principal Zelma Cowie, former teacher and revered football coach Bertille St Clair and Hezekiah Wood, who was among the school’s first group of teachers in 1977.

Caruth-Jack said for the school’s 50th anniversary in 2027, they are hoping to highlight the future of Signal Hill Secondary.

“We came up with the concept of a trilogy – past, present and future. So in 2027 the focus will be on the future.”

The interviews for both anniversaries can be found on the school’s Facebook page.

Caruth-Jack said now that the country has returned to some semblance of normalcy, the school is hoping to properly acknowledge the anniversary during its graduation ceremony in early July.

Acting principal Xavier King, who was among Signal Hill’s third intake of students in 1980, has fond memories of the school. He marvels at how far it has come since 1977.

“The ambience was very different. We were surrounded by trees, not the infrastructure there is today,” he said.

“At that time, we were just trying to get things together. It was quite under-developed when you consider it now.”

Back then, King recalled there were only a handful of teachers in comparison to the 80 staff members that are currently assigned to the school.

“Teachers were more or less limited because I remember in Mathematics, we only had one teacher and he taught O and A-Levels. So it was quite an experience then as a student.”

He said Signal Hill, during its formative years, quickly distinguished itself in the performing arts and sports, most notably football.

In 1982, under St Clair, Signal Hill Secondary won its first national Intercol title. It went on to perform a hattrick in 1987, 1988, 1989.

St Clair is also credited with nurturing the talent of former professional player Dwight Yorke, who had also attended the school in the 1980s. Yorke – who rose to international fame at Aston Villa and Manchester United – is expected to take up the position of manager of A-League men side Macarthur FC on July 1.

King recalled the school’s choir was practically an overnight success.

“By 1983, the choir had won all of the competitions. So the school was very young yet we were doing so much in a short space of time.”

He said as word of the school’s prowess on the sporting field spread, “everybody started gravitating to Signal Hill because of the football and wanted to be a part.

“They used to call us the football school.”

But Tobagonians’ impression of the school changed when student Merson Bartlett received the island’s first open scholarship for business studies in 1990. Signal Hill’s library is named after him.

Bartlett is currently a consulting actuary in Baltimore, US.

King, who was appointed acting principal in 2019, said Bartlett’s ground-breaking accomplishment allowed Tobagonians to view the school as a “serious institution.”

He added, “People had to shut their mouths. They couldn’t call us the football school again because we were doing well in the academics. So in that short space of time, we were doing things that other schools did not do when they started. That is what I think sets us apart.”

Evidentially, Signal Hill Secondary has, since its inception, continued to make it mark in culture, sport and academia.

John Arnold, former teacher and artistic director of the renowned Signal Hill Alumni Choir, said the school had developed a reputation for football and music.

The choir has a repertoire containing several genres of music. Over the years, it has also attended more than 15 chorale festivals, globally.

“It is significant to the history to understand that in the 80s and 90s, the two main things that I think Signal Hill has represented Tobago in is music and football,” he said.

“In the 80s, they (football team) were like the people we had to look at. Similarly, the Signal Hill Secondary School choir which was super victorious in 1982 led to the formation of the alumni in 1984.

“I always tell people that both the school choir and the alumni dominated during the 80s, the whole music festival in terms of the folk category and then in the 90s, another choir from Signal Hill called the Signalites Chorale, became the feeder for the Signal Hill alumni.”

Arnold said the choir, which has won numerous awards both at home and abroad, was regarded as an iconic symbol not just for the school but Tobago as a whole.

“It is important that we look at it from the perspective of what it meant for Tobago as a group and institution.”

Saying the alumni choir will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2024, he added, “In a space like Tobago, people take those things lightly but for people who have been able to build things and keep them alive for that length of time, I think is significant and it has to be part of whatever history one has to write.”

So influential was the choir, Arnold recalled, people who never attended Signal Hill joined.

“It became an institution because the brand was so powerful.”

Signal Hill Secondary’s students can be found in all parts of the world, holding down positions in science, law, medicine, the arts, politics, public service and religious ministry.

Caruth-Jack said the school has produced Tobago’s first licensed female land surveyor, Keshia Manswell-Prima.

Dr Donna Marie Darlington Dawes, diversity and inclusion adviser, World Bank, is also flying Signal Hill’s flag high on the world stage.

At least 20 of Signal Hill’s current staff members are former students, including the heads of the Mathematics and Technical/Vocational Departments, Heather Roberts (Class of ’83) and Stacy Abraham (’94), respectively.

Artisan Ted Arthur, footballer Kennya Cordner, track and field Tyriq Horsford, Tobago West MP Shamfa Cudjoe, THA minority councillor Petal Daniel-Benoit and former chief secretary Ancil Dennis are also past students.

Dennis, who is also the PNM Tobago Council’s new political leader, congratulated Signal Hill on achieving its 45th anniversary.

Describing his years at the institution as an “enjoyable and beneficial experience,” he added, “My relationships and interactions with my peers and teachers helped shaped me into the well-rounded individual and leader that I am today.”

Dennis said he vividly recalls his interactions with late former principal Joyce Estrada-Petersen, who passed away earlier this week, as well as late dean of discipline Cecil Dalrymple.

“They contributed significantly to my education and also to my general development as a young man.”

He said other teachers, like Jamila Amin and King (acting principal), also played a tremendous role in moulding him “and I am sure they would have had the same kind of positive impact on all the students that walked through the doors of that institution.”

Dennis said he had his fair share of involvement in sport “although Signal Hill was and still is known a great footballing school.”

He said he played cricket and represented the school and TT at the under-15 level. In Tobago, Dennis said he played at all levels, from under-13 to seniors.

“Indeed, I enjoyed my experiences at the institution. I was able to leave there will all of my O-Levels and a number of life lessons along the way that augured well for me in my development even to this day.”

Caruth-Jack, who has been a teacher at Signal Hill for the past 24 years, described it as a family-oriented school.

“We have a family culture here. At Signal Hill, the teachers are extremely dedicated and are always willing to go the extra mile for students. That really hit home for me last year in talking to sixth formers who came from other schools in Trinidad and Tobago as well.

“When I asked what stood out for them at Signal Hill, they said the teachers.”

She said teachers go above and beyond the call of duty.

“They are always willing to assist and to do whatever it takes to make sure they succeed. That is one of the things about Signal Hill that makes it exceptional.”

Caruth-Jack said Signal Hill is also about diversity.

“We don’t just focus on academia but we want to develop the whole child. The focus is on holistic development. We want children who are well-rounded global citizens. That is what we want to foster.

“So we expose them to the performing arts, visual arts, technical/vocation education ­– a vast number of areas so that when they leave Signal Hill they can fit in and function just about anywhere.”

King said he would like to see a more balanced curriculum in terms of technology education.

“We need a lot more of that. So, if I could get that done, where students coming here will feel more comfortable regardless of their academic prowess they know that they will leave school with something to make a living. That is what I am aiming at now.”

He said he has also begun the process of digitising school information.

“So I know when I leave here, all of our information will be digitised.”

King said his vision is to make Signal Hill Secondary a premier institution.

“We are at the stage where we have passed a good school. We are an effective school. So, what I am aiming for now is a school that is excellent.

“We want to provide world class education, holistic in an environment that is changing constantly. Our students must be able to adapt at a moment’s notice. That is the kind of vision I have.”

Distinguished alumni

Dr Bianca Manswell-Gomez – scientist

Dr Nicholas Percy – Port of Spain General Hospital

Dr Inga Manswell – paediatrician

Dr Marielle Armstrong – gynaecologist

Dr Alimayu Chadband – Scarborough General Hospital

Bobby Andrews – Director of Planning (THA)

Avonelle Caruth-Bernard – attorney-at-law