Philipsburg:---- The St. Maarten Institute of Technology and Hospitality (SMITH) is looking for a stronger relationship with its current student body in order to ensure optimal results and success for 2009.
Last month SMITH organized a retreat for its newly formed Student Government Association (SGA) compliments of the Summit Hotel. It was a week-end filled with team building exercises and bonding experiences to prepare the SGA to work more optimally together as a team in 2009.
Social Coordinator of SMITH, Erna Mae Francis, MA, DD who led this expedition comprising seven members of the ten member SGA board, was pleased with the results of the week-end. She expressed a sense of hope as she saw the students begin to cultivate a strong team spirit on the way to the resort and while shopping for groceries at the supermarket. This experience reinforced the sentiment that when persons feel a sense of belonging to something, they are more committed to the process, SMITH's Education Coordinator Sidonia Hodge-Lacorbiniere explained.
The majority of students clearly indicated that on a scale of 1-10 their commitment level as a result of the week-end was a 9 or higher.
Upon arrival at the hotel, the first activity was a word of exhortation and charge from Sidonia Hodge-LaCorbiniere. She offered each student an opportunity to pick one of her treasured books and upon their selection inscribed in each of them: "Readers are leaders."
After the word from Hodge-LaCorbiniere, devotions were held by Francis to invoke a sense of gratitude to God for granting the participants this opportunity to spend time together in such a beautiful environment.
"After devotions, the students prepared a sumptuous meal; rice and curry chicken by Angele; with each member assigned a task to assist in the preparation and clean up.
"At the conclusion of dinner, and further bonding, Dr. Francis engaged them in team building exercises in the form of "the human spider web." The students completed this team work task in record time and then had the opportunity to discuss the exercise by reflecting on who took the lead, which followed and what it felt like to work as a team in tackling the challenge of unknotting themselves.
"Individually they were then assigned the task of saying with conviction why they were important to the SGA board. Their presentation was then judged for creativity, humour and conviction. This exercise resulted in some spirited presentations which helped each of them to further discover their purpose in the group and challenge them beyond their comfort zones. The winner of the exercise was Donika McKenzie who had the overwhelming number of points. After this exercise, the students enjoyed a fun time of fellowship at the pool," Hodge-Lacorbiniere told (GIS).
On one of the days of the two-day weekend, the students were left alone for most of the day to rest and to share on their own time. In the afternoon a debriefing session was held as to how the week-end retreat was for them. They all disclosed that the retreat has connected them tremendously and that they looked forward to doing more of these retreats. They were then encouraged to take the time to brain-storm their plan of action for the coming year. This brainstorming activity would then be used as a guide in determining the course that their first year as a SGA would take.
The students were also asked to demonstrate how they'd build bonds of community with the four other board members who were unable to attend the activity. They came up with a few suggestions and realized that for the SGA to be effective, team work is essential. Overall, the week-end was well spent and should prove effective in school retention and commitment among the students.
Those requiring further information can visit the SMITH's office which is located next to the Central Drugstore on the E. Camille Richardson Street #23 in Philipsburg or can call SMITH's administrative offices at 542-1620. Office hours are from 8.30am to 4.00pm.
