STETHS Will Rise Again: School Community Vows to Rebuild After Hurricane Melissa’s Devastation

The administration at the St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) remains hopeful, believing in the resilience of the school and its community to rebuild the institution that has been destroyed by the passage of the powerful Hurricane Melissa.

The category five storm made landfall on Tuesday (Oct. 28) with maximum sustained winds estimated at 295 kilometres per hour (185 miles), devastating communities across the island, particularly in the southwestern parishes.

At STETHS, Acting Vice Principal Patrine Daley-Chambers recounts the first time seeing the institution following the passage of the destructive hurricane.

“I live in Mandeville [Manchester], and when I came into Santa Cruz and just looking across the grade 11 block, I tell you, I got teary-eyed when I saw my school. This is my school,” Mrs. Daley-Chambers says, shaking her head as if trying to dismiss the reality of the devastation.

While giving a tour to the JIS News team that visited the school on Thursday (Oct. 30), Mrs. Daley-Campbell pointed out the extensive damage done to the entire grade 11 block.

The set of classrooms, which once held students preparing for Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, are now completely devoid of a roof, and the area where the backwall once stood now gives a clear view of the destruction of the school farm and greenhouse.

Significant damage was also done to the grades seven and nine roofs, as well as the principal and teachers’ cottages and the track and field athletes’ dorms.

A section of the perimetre wall has also broken away, and the stands, where spectators would gather to cheer on the school’s athletes, are now in tatters.

While surveying the damage, the Vice Principal was resolute that STETHS will be rebuilt, and even stronger, but help is needed.

“You know, we’re resilient and when I came here, the spirit; I didn’t come here and saw persons down or despondent or depressed, the spirit was high because we know that of course STETHS is a brand and we will rise again. We will build again. We just need persons to just come together,” Mrs. Daley-Chambers tells JIS News.

“You know, it is going to take a collective effort, but we are going to rise from this. We have to,” she says.

The school’s Principal Keith Wellington concurs, adding that this is not the first time the STETHS has been damaged by a hurricane.

He recalls that the grade 11 block and other areas of the institution were ruined following the 2004 Hurricane Ivan but with support from various stakeholders and corporate Jamaica they were able to rebuild.

He is hopeful that people will come on board to assist once again.

“It looks really, really gloomy but I think, as an institution, that we are a very, very strong family and our influence in terms of people wanting to support us is really good. So, I know that once the need is there, persons will come onboard to support us and I am looking forward to it,” Mr. Wellington says.

For now, the administrators are unsure of when school will be reopened for face-to-face learning, and giving lessons online is hampered by the lack of electricity and cell and Wi-Fi reception across St. Elizabeth.

Mr. Wellington says his immediate focus is ensuring that the over 1700 students at STETHS receive the social and mental help they need to rebound from this trauma.

“I think our children deserve us to give them the best shot to get them back to some level of normalcy. They have gone through a lot. These are students who would have gone through the [Covid-19] pandemic and so these are two major experiences that most people don’t go through in life,” Mr. Wellington points out.

“[These students] have now gone through two significant experiences in their educational pursuits so we have to do everything to support them and not just in terms of getting them to complete the curriculum but actually supporting their social and mental well-being as well,” he states.

Seventeen-year-old Prince Perry who was on campus for football camp when Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica’s south coast, describes the experience as a scary one, which seemed unending, noting that the camaraderie among his teammates made the difference during the very challenging time.

He shares that he is devastated by the destruction of the school, but is not giving up,

“I kind of feel disappointment because this year was one of the years that I really wanted to step up and do something [big] in school. Nevertheless, you have to stay with the book same way,” he says.

While the school seeks assistance in rebuilding, a clean-up day was scheduled for Friday (Oct. 31) involving the parent-teacher association (PTA), parents, community members and other stakeholders.

Mrs. Daley-Campbell tells JIS News that once this is completed, an assessment of the hurricane damage will be done.

Additionally, while the school is in recovery mode, it plans on reaching out to needy students to ensure that they are coping and to offer any assistance to them and their families.