Subjects offered:
- Social Studies
- Geography
- Caribbean History
- Caribbean Studies
- Sociology
Faculty
- A. Balroop – Head of Department / Geography / Social Studies
- A. Adams – Caribbean History / Social Studies / Caribbean Studies
- A. Ramnanansingh – Caribbean History / Social Studies
- R. Nandlal – Geography / Social Studies
- S. Syriac – Social Studies / Caribbean Studies / Sociology
- N. Ramkissoon – Caribbean History / Social Studies
- S. Ramcharan – Geography / Social Studies
Modern Studies Department
African History Quiz 2021
In 2021 Waterloo Secondary School participated for the first time in the Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago (ESCTT) annual African History Quiz. The Youth Education and Development Programme of the ESCTT, as part of its observance of African History Month, has since 2008, organised a National African History Quiz for young persons in secondary schools during the period September to November.
This year, the entire competition had to be held virtually because of Covid-19. In preparation for the Quiz, a virtual workshop was held via the Zoom Platform and the details of the new format and rules and regulations for the virtual competition was discussed and explained and an electronic copy of the study manual was emailed.
The target group for the competition was students in Forms 1-5 and/or students 13-16 years of age. Waterloo’s initial team consisted of five Form 3 students includingLynMarie Sandiford, Amarissa Neverson, Jahzara Archibald, Rihana Francis, and Chelsea Gayadeen. Later on in the competition due to technical difficulties Rihana Francis was replaced with Hannah Constantine. The two teachers assisting the students were Ms. Adella Adams and Mrs. Jewel Baptiste-Richards from the Modern Studies Department.
Since the Waterloo Secondary School team consisted of 5 girls who were all unique they named the team “The Unique shades of Waterloo” and the captain of the team was LynMarie Sandiford. The competition took the format of the “Tic Tac Toe” game with a team “X” and “Y”.
In the preliminaries, the young Waterloo Secondary School team of Form 3 students competed against the experienced Form 5 students of Holy Faith Convent Penal, who were also the 2019 winners of the competition. Despite having lost that game, our scores were good enough to get us into the quarter final stage of the competition.
In the Quarter Finals, Waterloo played Tableland Secondary School and secured an impressive victory which took us to the Semi- Final stage of the competition. In the semifinals Waterloo had to battle Naparima Girls College to earn a spot in the finals. The Waterloo team put up a formidable defense, however, we lost to Naparima Girls College who eventually went on to win the overall competition.
Although we did not make it to the finals, by just entering the competition Waterloo had gained many benefits both tangibly and intangibly. Additionally, the team should be commended on making it to the semifinals on their very first entry to the competition. Also, our Form 3 students who had never been exposed to such detailed knowledge of History before, were brave, confident and daring and went up against Form 5 students who had more experience and exposure on the subject.
Overall, our students gained knowledge in African Historical events and the contributions of Africans to world development at the national, regional and international levels.
They learnt cooperation, conflict resolution and leadership skills through the experience of team work. Furthermore, they developed good study skills, confidence and self-esteem as they prepared for the competitions.
Each of the students received a gift bag and a certificate for participating in the competition. The experience of entering the competition was a significant and enjoyable one for all the students. They are eager to participate again this year and proudly represent Waterloo Secondary School.
