The 2019 St. Croix Educational Complex High School Virgin Islands Cultural Contributors Calendars are now available. The commitment of SCECHS art and drama students is evident in the beautiful final product. This year’s cover features Virgin Islands’ cultural bearer, Dr. Stanley Jacobs and The Ten Sleepless Nights.
During the school year 2016-2017, the Virgin Islands Cultural Contributors Calendar project was developed by St. Croix Educational Complex’s Visual Arts educator Danica M. David and Drama and Speech educator Sayeeda Carter. The project involves an interactive learning experience for SCECHS students and participants in the community who are actively contributing to the development of Virgin Islands culture. Ms. David and Ms. Carter developed this idea so that on a yearly basis students in the Virgin Islands can learn about individuals who are aiding the advancement of Virgin Islands culture. The calendar project is also a fundraiser for St. Croix Educational Complex High School students to travel to New York to visit universities, theaters, and museums. Virgin Islands Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts provided funding to print the 2019 calendar.
Each Cultural Contributor is selected because he or she is a native or resident of the Virgin Islands for a minimum of 15 years or more. Additionally, the individual is an active contributor to the development of Virgin Islands culture through fine arts, education, literature, and past or present history. Each individual is still thriving and living in the US Virgin Islands.
Ms. Danica David’s SCEC Art Club students photographed and used provided photographs to create mixed media (collage and watercolor) portrait artwork. Ms. Sayeeda Carter’s Drama and Speech students interviewed selected participants with questions modeled from Vanity Fair Magazine’s Proust Questionnaire. Also, fellow SCECHS English teacher Mrs. Regina Edwards-Keels was the project editor.
Along with Dr. Stanley Jacobs and The Ten Sleepless Nights, the third Virgin Islands Cultural Contributors Calendar for 2019 features Winifred “Oyoko” Loving, La Vaughn Belle, Dion Parson, Karen L, Samuel, Chef Anton W. Doos, Biko McMillan, Asta Williams, Charlita Schuster, Frandelle Gerard, Sara Lee Hayes, and Sacha Alexander. The second Virgin Islands Cultural Contributors Calendar featured Diana Garcia, John Jones, Nina York, Toby Derima, Priscilla Hintz Rivera Knight, Mario Picayo, Claire Roker, Alscess Lewis-Browne, Winona Hendricks, Charles D. Peters, Mike Walsh, and Kevre’ L. Hendricks in 2018. The first Virgin Islands Cultural Contributors Calendar in 2017 featured Willard John, Mario Moorhead, Eugene “Doc” Petersen, Sonia Jacobs Dow, Susan Wall, Yemaya Jones, Valrica Bryson, Abdul Ali, Elisa McKay, Brian Bishop, and Bill Bass.
Overall, this experience gave both students and teachers the opportunity to learn more about the many contributors and document modern-day Virgin Islands culture. For more information about the calendar, email Ms. Sayeeda Carter at sayeeda.carter@gmail.com or Ms. Danica David at danicaart@yahoo.com.