Mausica Teachers' College alumni commemorate institute's milestone

HAD it been in existence today, Mausica Teachers’ Training College would have been celebrating its 60th anniversary on September 9.

The former government-run institution, which closed its doors in July 1979, is now home to the Military-Led Academic Training Programme, a two-year, full-time social intervention initiative, specifically designed to help at risk young men aged 16-20.

For Mausica’s alumni, though, the memories of their time at the institution and its impact on the country’s educational landscape can never be forgotten.

Over the years, the college’s past students, many of whom live abroad, have held reunions to commemorate various milestones in the life of the institution.

And throughout this week, beginning July 17, they’ve organised several events in tribute what would have been the institution’s diamond jubilee.

The theme of this year’s reunion is Beyond Friendship and activities will take place in both Trinidad and Tobago.

It starts with an opening ceremony at the Youth Training Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP) Centre, Woodford Lodge, Chaguanas from 10 am.

On July 18, it’s off to Tobago for a photographic and video presentation, Nostalgic Walk Down Memory Lane at Kariwak Village, Crown Point. Kariwak will also be the venue for the Mausica Forum on Wednesday at 6 pm.

A highlight of the celebration will be a gala dinner on Saturday at the Radisson Hotel, Port of Spain.

Counselling psychologist Anna Maria Mora attended the college from 1968-1970 and is a member of the organising committee for this year’s event.

She has only fond memories of the institution. Mora recalled many of the first-year students were daunted by the experience.

“When we got there it was a little intimidating because most of us were taken into the college at 18, which would have been very strange for a lot of us who really had never left home and it was a residential institution, even though we were allowed to go to our homes on weekends. The first week was very difficult,” she told Sunday Newsday.

That intimidation, Mora said, dissipated as the school terms wore on.

She said the classes, tutored by local and foreign lecturers, were second to none. It was not uncommon for the lecturers to go way beyond the call of duty to ensure that their students understood the lessons outside of the regular classroom hours.

“We spent nights on the floors in their living room preparing notes of lessons, posters and visual aids to help our students to understand mathematical concepts to make our teaching practice effective and enjoyable for the children.”

Mora added the lecturers did their best to ensure that the learning experiences stayed with them throughout the teaching careers.

She said, “Our graduates brought a sense of professionalism to the teaching profession in Trinidad and Tobago. Even after Mausica closed its doors, teacher-training at Valsayn Teachers’ College continued to provide graduates with the professional skills for their vocation.”

Mora said the two-year programme was filled with activities in which the students learnt “much more than chalk and talk.”

She said heavy emphasis was placed on extra-curricular activities, particularly sport, culture and the arts. As a result, Mora said, “It came naturally that you get involved in the children’s extra-curricular work. It is not only to study to pass exams.”

Those cultural programmes gave birth to several groups, including the Mausica Alumni Choir, which won several music festivals over the years.

Mora said the lessons learnt in those programmes served her well.

“When I left Mausica, I was sent to Sacred Heart Girls’ RC School and for most of us whenever there was music festivals, dance festivals or chorale speaking, every time you went to Queen’s Hall (St Ann’s) to anything, most of the tutors and the people who were training the children were Mausicans.”

She said she was also involved in netball and the school’s girl guides at Sacred Hearts Girls.’

“We lament the fact today that a lot of extra-curricular activities are no more in the schools.”

Mora is hoping the reunion will not only allow alumni to reconnect but to “share our untold stories that go beyond friendship.”

Situated on Mausica Road, D’Abadie, Mausica Teachers’ Training College was conceptualised by late Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams as an initiative to prevent young people who desired a career in education, from going abroad to study. In an introduction to the college’s draft commemorative magazine, years ago, lecturer Linda Edwards wrote that Williams was “determined to bring the necessary education to the people of Trinidad and Tobago, without the long exile from family and country that study abroad necessitated.” The college’s motto was Moulding A Nation Through Service.

During its 16-year run, the institution trained 3,200 young teachers for primary and secondary schools throughout the country.

But in the 1970’s, when the country faced an economic downturn, many Mausica graduates migrated to the US, Canada and other countries in search of greener pastures. Many of them have excelled in education and other related fields. Some became principals while others established their own schools.

Mora said those who migrated never lost touch with their friends and former classmates.

“The fact that Mausicans are still keeping in touch after all these years is a testament to what the college meant to us. Mausica’s legacy went far and wide.”

Sunday Newsday learnt that Mausican Brenda Alexander, who lives in Canada, was recently on a cruise in the Caribbean. When her ship docked at Port of Spain, she quickly contacted her friend, retired school principal Thora Best, who met her dockside to finalise details for the reunion.

Organising committee member Carlston Gray, who attended the college from 1972-1974, conceptualised the reunion theme, Beyond Friendship.

He regarded his two years at Mausica as the “most transformative years of my life.”

Gray said he left Tobago as a naive, 19 year-old and returned “prepared and ready to take on the world.

“We were taught that whatever we did outside of the classroom was just as important as what we did inside of the classroom; that students would respect you if you respect them.”

Of the dormitory experience, he added, “Living with people you have never seen before for 24 hours per day, seven days per week created opportunities for life-long relationships. My roommate and hostel mates and I are still close friends, some 50 years later.”

Gray holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture and a master's in Education with a specialisation in instructional technology among other credentials.

He worked his way from Mathematics teacher to assistant principal and later high school principal. Gray also worked as an Adjunct Instructor of Mathematics at Middlesex College, Edison, New Jersey. He also coached youth soccer and track and field teams in New York and New Jersey.

Gray, who now lives in Florida, retired in October 2021.

He told Sunday Newsday his experiences at Mausica provided the platform on which his educational journey at Howard University, New York Institute of Technology to the College of Staten Island, was built.

“For five years, while teaching woodwork and metalwork at Scarborough Junior Secondary, the impact of a Mausica education was very evident.”

At Scarborough Secondary, Gray said he worked alongside three other Mausicans Hudson Phillips, Rawle Carrington and Vernella Alleyne-Toppin.

“Our school was the best sporting cultural institution on the island and I am delighted that in some small way I was a part of those experiences.”

Saying that social, cultural and sporting activities are important to the development of children, Gray hailed the contributions of fellow Tobago-born Mausicans Dr Eastlyn McKenzie, Annette Nicholson-Alfred, Gilbert “Happy” O’Connor, Dr Adelia Bovell-Benjamin, Astrid Archer-Roachford, Jasper Joefield, Peter O’Neil and the late Michael Duncan among others.

He said he does not regard his Mausicans as friends but family.

Over the years, Mausica Teachers’ College Alumni has also established a Mausica Teachers’ College Foundation with two chapters, in Canada and one in TT.

The Rev Dr Hazel Ann Gibbs De Peza is the chair of the Trinidad’s chapter committee while Conrad Thomas is chair of the Canadian committee.

The aim is to create a legacy for Mausica Teachers’ College by granting scholarships and bursaries for students at the undergraduate level of the Bachelor of Education Programme at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). These will be based on academic merit and financial need.

A Memorandum of Understanding and policy document to accommodate the scholarship has already been established between the foundation and the UTT.

In the first semester of the academic year 2022-2023, three students received scholarships while five got bursaries,

ITINERARY

JULY 17: Official Opening, YTEPP Centre, Woodford Lodge, Chaguanas.

JULY 18: Tobago (Early morning) by Sea or Air.

Photographic and Video Presentation: Nostalgic Walk Down Memory Lane, Kariwak Village.

JULY 19: Tobago Bus Tour, Lunch at Jemma's.

Mausica Forum, Kariwak Village.

JULY 20: Travel Day: Tobago to Trinidad

JULY 21: Toco Tour (with stops). Park at T/PRC Tunapuna.

JULY 22 : Gala Dinner, Radisson Hotel, Port of Spain.

JULY 23: Sunday morning breakfast, Radisson Hotel, Port of Spain.