Students at C.H. Reeves Junior School have a tangible reminder of peace. Sixteen students and six teachers from East Side Charter School & Learning Center in Wilmington, Delaware, recently visited the school in Montell Heights where they planted hibiscus and Impatien flowers in the school's peace garden.
The goal of their visit was to expose the Delaware students to a different culture.
"We wanted them to give them a unique experience prior to them moving on to high school," said East Side Charter School & Learning Center principal, Dr. Lamont Browne.
Jacinda Fields, an eighth grade student from Eastside said that she was happy to be in The Bahamas and that within seconds of their arrival on the C.H. Reeves School campus she made many friends.
"It seems like yesterday that we found out we were coming to The Bahamas. I was so excited about coming to The Bahamas since I never travelled outside of The United States," said Fields.
She said she was impressed by the friendliness of the students who asked her questions and wanted to learn about her.
Giovanni Thompson, an eighth grade C.H. Reeves student was excited about having the visitors at his school and that he enjoyed working with them in the peace garden.
After the planting, some of the C. H. Reeves students engaged the East Side students in a spontaneous dance session and later the guests were treated to coconut tart and Goombay Punch. The two schools did have their basketball shoot-out which resulted in a one-game victory for each side. During their visit the students also visited the Straw Market.
According to Dr. Browne, the staff and students of the school decided last year to visit another school in a different country to interact with other students. And that school vice-principal Letisha Laws suggested The Bahamas.
School officials contacted the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in September 2012 to seek permission to establish a relationship with a local school. Eulease Beneby, superintendent for the southeastern district referred them to C.H. Reeves Junior School. The two schools arranged the visit.
After nine months of planning, the visitors arrived in Nassau onboard a Disney Cruise ship. They were greeted by the school's principal Greta Brown, Beneby and other faculty members of the school and transported by bus to the school where they were greeted by the student body.
Immediately after the introductions, some of the students from C.H. Reeves challenged their counterparts from East Side to a basketball shoot-out, but the school's principal refocused their energies on the planting project. Holes were dug, old roots pulled, plants placed in the ground, covered with soil and mulch and watered.
The group paused for a moment for the presentation of tokens by the principal, district superintendent and some students. Each of the bags contained a C. H. Reeves' Raptors t-shirt, a poster and other trinkets.
The two groups discussed C.H. Reeves students traveling to Wilmington next year.

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