GHS Principal McPhee is Honored
Posted by Sharda Stuart
"An average designation is what I would award our collective efforts at parenting in the Bahamas", said Principal McPhee, (pictured right in photo next to President Carla Card-Stubbs, as he takes a question from a Rotarian) at the Rotary Club of Nassau Sunrise, where he received the Club's Vocational Services Recognition Award for his efforts to educate Bahamian students in these challenging times.
Mr. McPhee is in his third "tour of duty", as he describes it, at the Government High School, where he served as a teacher, vice principal and now principal, where he feels the "full brunt of challenges in educating Bahamian high school students". He further expressed, though, that "all is not lost, that our system is not destined to fail, ultimately". He firmly asserted that the vices, brashness and rudeness of students can be overcome by also meeting the social and emotional needs of students through the active participation of parents and with the assistance of groups like Rotary.
Mr. McPhee touched on the infamous 'D average', stating that it is pretty complex as it contains the A's, B's, and C's which balances against the E's, F's and G's, all of which make up a seven point scale of achievement. He also stated that there are also students that perform exceptionally well, despite the overall D grade rating.
"We are just now demanding the assistance of parents and a continuous dialogue with members of the community about the active role they must play in educating Bahamian students. In the past, parents and the community provided the main ingredients in education and these were 'a sense of value for education and knowledge' and a 'universal respect for those providing it'." In order to achieve this, Mr. McPhee urges that we must improve the quality of family life and the relationships between persons in our communities; and continue to greatly expand more of the service and leadership guidance that Rotary is doing with the Interact Club, and well as with traditional clubs and teams. He added that Rotary can do much to help the older groups to organize and market themselves in ways that would make them relevant and attractive to today's Bahamian youth.
In thanking the members of the Rotary Club of Nassau Sunrise for its assistance in the past, Mr. McPhee looks forward to the partnership producing even greater successes for Government High School in the future.
Mr. McPhee touched on the infamous 'D average', stating that it is pretty complex as it contains the A's, B's, and C's which balances against the E's, F's and G's, all of which make up a seven point scale of achievement. He also stated that there are also students that perform exceptionally well, despite the overall D grade rating.
"We are just now demanding the assistance of parents and a continuous dialogue with members of the community about the active role they must play in educating Bahamian students. In the past, parents and the community provided the main ingredients in education and these were 'a sense of value for education and knowledge' and a 'universal respect for those providing it'." In order to achieve this, Mr. McPhee urges that we must improve the quality of family life and the relationships between persons in our communities; and continue to greatly expand more of the service and leadership guidance that Rotary is doing with the Interact Club, and well as with traditional clubs and teams. He added that Rotary can do much to help the older groups to organize and market themselves in ways that would make them relevant and attractive to today's Bahamian youth.
In thanking the members of the Rotary Club of Nassau Sunrise for its assistance in the past, Mr. McPhee looks forward to the partnership producing even greater successes for Government High School in the future.