“The more you know about the past the better prepared you are for the future.” Theodore Roosevelt

 

Grade 5 Trip to Cheshire Hall Plantation

The Turks and Caicos Island is renowned for its beautiful beaches and lovely warm climate. The beauty often over shadows the realities of its rich past. The islands were inhabited first by a race of Lucayan Indians long before any Europeans set foot on the islands. They lived active lives and strive on the resources that nature offered on the island. Evidence of their existence were seen in pottery and craft in caves and the remains of a rear paddle used to row their canoes.

Students reaching out to the Past in order to appreciate the Present

Upon the arrival of the Europeans, the diversification of ethnicities was set in motion. This led into a new era of structure which surrounded an economy driven by slaves working in the past industries of salt and cotton. The children of Grade Five divulged vicariously into this moment in time through their observation and lecture on ancient relics left behind by the then inhabitants of the islands. They toured the ruins of Cheshire Hall Plantation with much excitement and intrigue. It was a day of learning through walking the grounds and basking in the glee of the past, touching what was and had been long ago. The thoughts and imaginations that these grounds were teaming with life and activities back then brought an ideal connection of the past. Profitable and esteemed for some, harsh and very uncertain for others.

The reality is that what the Turks and Caicos is today is as a result of what it was then. Human evolution is clearly stated here as to how far a society has come and progressively where it is heading.

The children, I am certain, gathered an appreciation of this history of Cheshire Hall Plantation. They learned to cherish life's gifts, knowing that harder times once lingered on these beautiful islands. So enjoy the beautiful beaches and the pleasant smiles that is freely extended all about. It is another chapter in the ever changing and growing societies on the islands.