Description of Our Community:

Fishing Pond is a small rural coastal village, directly east of Sangre Grande. The name may have come about because of the Fresh Water Fishing Industry that flourished in the early days and the fact that in the dry season, people would go to catch fish trapped in ponds as the bulk of the water dried out.

Most of the early settlers were labourers in the cocoa, coffee, coconut, lime and rice plantations which were the mainstay over the years. The windbelt lagoon was a major supplier of rice which flourished from long before 1910. It was known as Knox Lagoon, after the Englishman owner. Other lagoon areas such as Marlay’s Lagoon ( now Ramlakhan) Khoda Baksh lagoon and Henderson Lagoon, produced much rice, but production declined rapidly during the 1960’s.

Cocoa, too, played an important role in the economy of the area for many years, as there were many cocoa estates. In 1926, there was a severe drought, and cocoa suffered badly.  Some plantation owners then switched to coconuts and limes, and these flourished too.

The cemetery became official in 1949, Electricity was introduced in late 1950’s, and the water supply came to part of the community in the late 1960’s. The Recreation Ground was cut from Ghanny’s coconut field in 1986. Several shops and parlours have been operating in the area.

Today, Fishing Pond is popular for its ‘Turtle Beach.’ However, they possess a wide range of flora and fauna.  Fishing Pond has came a long way from its beginnings, and is on the way to making itself a more conspicuous place on the Trinidad map.

 

Summary of our Project:

Fishing Pond, located on the east coast  of Trinidad is continuously being threatened by hurricanes, tsunamis and flooding. In the past, the community has suffered damages due to these Natural Disasters. Our school decided to use this opportunity to educate the National Community on what we have learnt from our experiences and share the plans we have put in place to reduce these effects.

CyberFair Theme:

 “Learn and Unite”- We have embarked on a Community Education Programme focusing on the issues related to the area that contribute to the vulnerability of our neighbours.

We examined the agricultural practices, waste disposal and everyday life-styles of the persons in the community. We then showed the link of the Natural Disasters to these practices. Students, teachers and resource personnel all contributed to educating the community on the methods of reducing these effects.

Together with our community and neighbouring communities we also developed a response plan and team in case of a Disaster. Together we have learnt and will unite for a common cause.

 

Our Computer and Internet Access:       

                                                            A-0% of our students has internet access at home.

                                                            B-0% of our computer at school has internet access.

                                                            C-Not Applicable

                                                            D-Not Applicable

Problems we had to Overcome:

We were faced with two (2) minor problems that we easily faced:

1-      Building a website: This was our first attempt at using a web-design programme (Microsoft FrontPage). Much of it was new  ground and a learning experience.

2-      Collecting Packages: The Postal service at Fishing Pond is not as reliable as it should be. Therefore information and packages arrived to us late.

3-   The CD provided by CyberFair did not open, so we had to contact another school for a copy.

 

Our Project Sound Bite:

 Participating in this project has given us the opportunity to showcase the talents and enthusiasm of our students. Knowing their work will be available not just in Fishing Pond but  for the National Community is an achievement by itself.

                 All aspects of the Natural Disasters Education Programme covered were integrated into the Whole Language Approach. It was incorporated into the other Subject areas. Example: Teachers used information on Earthquake to teach Fractions. Using this approach to teach gave the students a better understanding to the topics covered in subject areas and gave them a deeper understanding on the topic at hand. We learnt how to operate and work with Microsoft Frontpage and the benefits of thematic teaching.

Support given to Coursework and Curriculum Standards:   

   This project was designed to fit into the Syllabus of work through Integration. The Whole Language Approach incorporated the Theme into all subject area.  Example: Earthquakes was used to teach Fractions.  For Fishing Pond Presbyterian, this was our introduction to Microsoft Frontpage. The staff did not have experience using the Programme. Much of what we accomplished was trial and error. This project proved to us that education can change behaviour. We will continue to expose the students to area that are new and exciting.