Recent successes from Anatol Rodgers High School students have proven that the Mighty Timberwolves are front-runners in producing quality performance.

"We are a quality school producing quality students and they are expected to demonstrate quality performance as well as quality behavior," said Myrtle McPhee, principal of the school.

The school recently celebrated major victories in academia, sports, hospitality and engineering. The students and their teachers were recognized in Parliament last Wednesday.

When asked yesterday whether her leadership is the result of the school's successes, McPhee said, "Their success is partly because of my leadership and partly because of the teachers who would have provided the quality instructions for them.

"And also we must give credit to their parents and to them as students who would have conformed to the standards and produced quality performances."

After competing in the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute's 'International Hospitality and Tourism Management Competition' in Orlando, Florida, the Anatol Rodgers team took home first place and became the first school outside of the United States to win the competition.

The students competed in three areas: In hotel operations, event planning and knowledge of hospitality facts. The students who competed were Dezaraye Dean 16; Vernajh Pinder 16; Ameera Poitier 16, and Jeanie Farris, 15.

Along with a trophy, which the students named Shelly, after Shelly Weir, the organizer of the competition, the students received scholarships valued at $57,000 per student from top hospitality colleges in the United States, and an all expenses paid trip to New York City for a hospitality conference.

"All of the students were among the top students in my class while at Anatol," said Janelle Cambridge-Johnson, the team's coach.

"There was never a doubt in my mind they were not going to win the overall competition. They are committed, dedicated, studious, and possess a strong passion for the success of the tourism industry."
The students spoke to The Nassau Guardian about their experience throughout the competition.

"We were all nervous because we didn't know what to expect from the other teams, but once we got there and started the competition, we started to feel confident in ourselves and pushed forward," said Pinder, the only male in the group.
Asked what the hardest part of the competition was, Dean said, "The hardest part for me was the case study, preparing for it in 20 minutes and presenting it in five minutes. To me, we were under pressure."

Despite having prepared for the competition from September 2014, the students said there were still unsupportive people who tried to discourage them.

"We had someone who told us that we won't be anything in the hospitality industry because the only thing in hospitality are a bunch of maids and chefs," Poitier said.

"So that just really motivated us to do more and actually win the competition because we knew there were a lot of people who didn't believe we could have and we had to prove them wrong."

She said that overall the experience was great and if given the opportunity she was sure they would do it all over again because they did their best.

The students said one of the reasons they won was because their teacher, Cambridge-Johnson, pushed them so hard with extra classes and tests every Sunday, tests in the airport before they left, on the plane as they were heading to Orlando and even the night before the competition.

Poitier said, "We had to study 1,500 definitions and memorize 1,500 definitions, and we actually won that part of the competition, so all of the tests paid off."

Dean added, "It was just God."

As for the future of the team, the only student not graduating this year, 11th grader Farris said: "I think with Ms. Cambridge's help again there will be a sure win, a second win for the Bahamas."

Cambridge-Johnson said she is still in celebration mode with her students and she is very proud of their accomplishment. She hopes that this win will inspire officials at the Ministry of Education to offer this program at high schools throughout The Bahamas for future aspiring tourism leaders.

"It is my sincere prayer that the Ministry of Education would see the benefit and potential of adapting and integrating the hospitality curriculum from the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute into the local curriculum," Cambridge-Johnson said.

"Students are able to gain practical experience while developing core competencies for the tourism and hospitality industry and enhance theoretical knowledge through certifications."

Build a bridge
The school saw another big accomplishment with its third consecutive win in The Bridge Building Competition. The students competed against 24 other schools, including 16 private schools. The students who competed were Monischa Smith 15; Zaria Rahming 15; Philip Darling 16; Aaron Thompson 16, and Kendal Joseph, 17. The engineering competition requires teams to construct bridges that can hold a certain weight without falling apart.

Oliver Lynch, their teacher and coach for the three years they have won the competition, said it was very hard to choose the team because there were many students within the school who wanted to be a part of the competition.

The students voted and chose Smith and Rahming to join the three males who had competed in the previous years.

"This year we were very happy because there was a lot of pressure on us because we won it two consecutive years but we know if we won it a third year, it would be history," Lynch said. "It came from dedication and also determination. These kids, they proved that putting minds together and working together as a team, they could accomplish goals."

Smith said she felt a lot of pressure to win because this was her first time in the competition.

"I wanted to be confident but not too confident," she said. "I've learnt that if you are too confident sometimes it can just hit you back in the face."

Rahming added, "When we went there we were excited and when the competition started it just made us more excited seeing the bridges break a part. I hope to be in it next year, and to come back with a win again."

Darling said he thought the competition would be easy so he was initially relaxed.

"But as soon as our bridge went up, fear, fear was all over my face," he said "I was scared. But I know we were going to win once Mr. Lynch was sitting there on the side of us."

All of the students plan to pursue further education in engineering.

Several other students from Anatol Rogers High School received full scholarships from Munroe College. These students were Kendranique Adderley 16; Tyisha Outten, 17; Ameera Poitier 16, and Andrea Brice 17.

Others received full sports scholarships from various colleges. These students were Tahj'nee Thurston, 17; Azaro Roker, 17 and Jared Richardson.

Anatol Rodgers is also celebrating other accomplishments. Rodyln Pierre, got first place in the National Southwestern District Spelling Bee; Andrese Edgecombe and Tiless Turnquest are participants in The College of The Bahamas' jump start program; Templeton Sawyer received the Peacemaker Ambassador Award-Ministry of Health Child Protection Unit, and Elijah Sands, Amelia Sawyer, Shania Johnson and Alexia Romer were first place finishers in the annual agricultural quiz competition.

The school also celebrated exceptional BGCSE scores from 11th and 12th graders, as well as several students being accepted into the Baha Mar Jet Setter program.

In the House of Assembly last week, Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald said, "Anatol Rodgers continues to prove that our public schools are producing quality students."

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