The Lighthouse School (LHS) and Cayman International School (CIS) are working together in a new civic collaboration partnership. Year one and two students from LHS and Grade six students from CIS have been working together to make a difference in the community and develop their civic understanding and responsibilities.

After initial ‘getting to know each other sessions’ that took place in both CIS and LHS, the group embarked on their first civic project last week.

On Wednesday, the students went to Beach Bay and spent the afternoon cleaning the beach. Equipped with gloves and trash pickers they gathered up several bags of trash including hundreds of coloured bottle caps that will be recycled.

They have now begun sorting the trash recovered from the beach and will utilise several items in a shared art project and display.

Dr. Aidan Tumilty, Deputy Principal LHS, said, “It is really wonderful to see the relationships developing between the students, having fun, and learning through these projects. The younger children from our school really admire and look forward to working with, and learning from, the older students from CIS. I also feel the students from CIS are gaining so much from this experience in terms of coming to know and understand the learning differences our students have, and developing civic responsibilities and understanding for all in our community.”

Mr. Ben Calsbeek, Assistant Principal at CIS also expressed his delight in the new partnership.

“We are really happy to be building a friendship and partnership with the Lighthouse School. It is really important for schools on the island to connect, to create a broader sense of community amongst the youth in Cayman. Doing these kinds of projects together make our island better in so many ways,” he said.