Gwendoline van Putten School on St. Eustatius opened its doors on Tuesday to 210 students with a general assembly. The programme included songs, dances, speeches, and performances.
Teachers were individually introduced to extremely loud cheers from students. Social worker Cecelia Gittens-Roosberg shared that she tackled Mandarin (commonly called Chinese) over the summer so she was able to welcome a new student, who recently moved to the island. Her message in Mandarin was “Hello Ming. How are you? Welcome to our school. I wish you success.” This evoked much emotion in the student. Principal Rosalie Edelstein-Lopes told students to greet each other when they meet, especially on school premises as this is the culture and custom on the island.
