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Kindergarten children attending Green Bay, Bolans, Golden Grove, T.N. Kirnon, and Villa Primary Schools in Antigua will now have a much greater chance of developing proficiency in phonemic awareness, a critical early literacy skill, because of a Rotary District grant secured by the Bethlehem Morning Star Rotary Club, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Antigua Sundown. In May 2025, a second cohort of teachers and administrators was trained in the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Program by literacy specialist Dr. Debbie Matz, the wife of Bill Matz from the Bethlehem Rotary Club. This was Dr. Matz’s third training program for educators in Antigua, and an extension of the pilot project begun in 2023. Teachers and administrators from the selected primary schools participated in a two-day training program, consisting of a day of learning foundational early literacy skills to deepen their knowledge base, and a day of training with the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness program. According to Nircree Mills-Jno Baptiste, a member of the Rotary Club of Antigua Sundown, “Educators informed our club that primary school students were experiencing difficulty in reading. We knew we had to help, so we reached out to Dr. Bill Hunter, who leads a service trip to Antigua & Barbuda on behalf of Lehigh University and is a member of the Bethlehem Morning Star Club.” That connection led to a District grant application and the funding for the initiative. The teacher professional training initiative, which began in 2023 in one primary school, expanded to four additional schools in 2025. The program has received the full support of the Antigua & Barbuda Ministry of Education. With Ministerial support, we are hopeful that the program can be successfully rolled out and implemented in the Primary Schools across Antigua and Barbuda over the next couple of years. |
