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Nearly-expelled pupil now at sister Hillside campus

ST. PETERS--A nine-year-old child has returned to school after an attempt to expel him from Hillside Christian Schools Asha Stevens Campus.

After a line-up of warnings by the school on the child and his brother, and a meeting with Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs (ECSY) Inspection Division Truancy Officers, a Court of Guardianship (CoG) representative and the child’s parents, the Hillside Christian Schools board arranged for the child to be enrolled in its Helmich Snijders Campus.

Switching the child to a school with Dutch as the language of instruction was not a preferred solution, but the school board made the decision after the meeting on the urgent case and a subsequent notification that the board would be solely responsible for enrolling him in another school Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The 9th annual Crystal Pineapple Awards Gala Event, held on Friday November 21st 2014, by the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA), was an outstanding and spectacular event. The evening saw 19 persons receive awards in the categories of Accommodations, Trade, and Community Service, as well as 6 persons /organizations in the extraordinary categories. The SHTA extends congratulations to all the nominees and winners of the 9th annual Crystal Pineapple Awards.
Guests were treated to a visual oasis of black & white with purple accents by Glitter Events who was contracted to transform the venue into a magical ambiance suitable only for St, Maarten's best and brightest stars in the Tourism arena.
The gala event was held at the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino which has been the host venue for many years to the event Read more

Crystal Pineapple Awards A Grand Success

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – The 9th annual Crystal Pineapple Awards Gala Event, held on Friday November 21st 2014, by the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA), was an outstanding and spectacular event.

The evening saw 19 persons receive awards in the categories of Accommodations, Trade, and Community Service, as well as 6 persons /organizations in the extraordinary categories.

The SHTA extends congratulations to all the nominees and winners of the 9th annual Crystal Pineapple Awards.

Guests were treated to a visual oasis of black & white with purple accents by Glitter Events who was contracted to transform the venue into a magical ambiance suitable only for St, Maarten's best and brightest stars in the Tourism arena.

The gala event was held at the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino which has been the host venue for many years to the event.

The resort also prepared a sumptuous and elaborate culinary extravaganza complete with living statutes which included more than ten live food stations, expertly prepared dishes such as a giant Paella, Sushi & Sashimi platters, roast leg of Lamb, Chateau Briand and a sumptuous dessert selection ranging from an array of cheeses and fruit to Sonesta's signature pastries.

The Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Anenda Zaandam, who tied the evening together along with board members and experts of the industry presenting the various awards.

Singers ARIAS opened with the National Anthem & closed the evening with a heart-warming "Time to say Goodbye" Read more

Ninth Crystal Pineapple Awards:  Shta Posthumously Honors Erika Cannegieter-Smith   

St. Maarten – The Crystal Pineapple Awards ceremony tends to get a bit rowdy towards the end of the evening – the result of a sumptuous dinner, a couple of glasses of wine and good company. On Friday evening the buzz stopped abruptly when Ricardo Perez and Lorraine Talmi announced the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association’s Person of the Year: Erika Cannegieter-Smith, the founder of the Be the Change Foundation  and former sales manager and event planner at the Radisson Hotel on the French side who succumbed on August 22 to cancer at the age of 36 Read more

Tourism industry stars honoured at 9th Crystal Pineapple Awards

MAHO--Top performers across the different sectors of the tourism industry were honoured once again at the ninth annual Crystal Pineapple Awards organised by the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) at repeat gala host Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino on Friday night, November 21.

Sonesta's conference room formed a mecca for the who's who of the tourism industry, as a jam-packed room of professionals enjoyed a five-star buffet dinner, silent auction, song and dance performances by ARIAS and Dance Theatre of St Read more

Pupil expulsion not valid, school seeks assistance

CAY HILL--A couple describing themselves as very "angry parents" reported to The Daily Herald that their nine-year-old child, who attends Hillside Christian Schools Asha Stevens Campus, has been expelled, a decision with which they fervently disagree and say is not allowed under St. Maarten's stand on compulsory education.

The school has described a situation of uncooperative parents and disruptive and dangerous behaviour by the pupil, stating that action is needed for both his safety and that of other pupils.

Amongst other warnings, the pupil was suspended for aggressive behaviour near the end of the last school year Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Fire in Babylon, Love is better than wine and The Power of the Tongue were titles of presentations delivered by Clayton Felix, Ted Richards & Rolande Tobias during Men Empowerment Night. The event was organized by St Maarten Toastmasters to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Toastmasters International. Having started back in 1924 as a Men's only organization, the organizers decided to place emphasis on the men and the importance of men stepping up in the organization. Held at the Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School in Cay Hill this past Saturday evening, the event saw an impressive attendance and participants thoroughly enjoy the evening's presentation.
The presentation by Clayton Holiday dealt with the challenges encountered by the West Indies cricket team and the determination of the players to make a statement on the international cricket stage Read more

St. Maarten Toastmasters Celebrate Toastmasters 90Th Anniversary With "Men Empowerment Night"

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Fire in Babylon, Love is better than wine and The Power of the Tongue were titles of presentations delivered by Clayton Felix, Ted Richards & Rolande Tobias during Men Empowerment Night.

The event was organized by St Maarten Toastmasters to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Toastmasters International.

Having started back in 1924 as a Men's only organization, the organizers decided to place emphasis on the men and the importance of men stepping up in the organization.

Held at the Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School in Cay Hill this past Saturday evening, the event saw an impressive attendance and participants thoroughly enjoy the evening's presentation.

The presentation by Clayton Holiday dealt with the challenges encountered by the West Indies cricket team and the determination of the players to make a statement on the international cricket stage.

Ted Richards expounded on the important role men can play in the lives of their spouses when it comes to early detection of breast cancer.

Rolande Tobias explored the use of the Power of the tongue to create peace, pleasure and pain Read more

St. Maarten Toastmasters Men Empowerment Night.

style="text-align: center;">To commemorate 90 years of Toastmasters International

PHILIPSBURG:--- Toastmasters on St Maarten will be commemorating the 90th anniversary of Toastmasters International with a special meeting for the public on Saturday October 25th at the Asha Stevens School in Cayhill.
The evening will feature as its theme "Men Empowerment night" Read more

Most schools ready to reopen on Monday

PHILIPSBURG--All government-subsidised schools and "most" public schools are ready to reopen their doors on Monday after a weeklong closure due to the passing of Hurricane Gonzalo, which pummelled the island on Monday evening, October 13.

High schools ready to reopen on Monday are Milton Peters College (MPC); Sundial School; both sections of St. Maarten Academy; Charlotte Brookson Academy for the Performing Arts; Methodist Agogic Center (MAC) Comprehensive Secondary Education; and St. Dominic High School.

Primary schools set to reopen are Seventh-Day Adventist School; MAC Browlia F Read more

King Yen Tae Kwon Do is moving

Grandmaster Theo Liu has held weekly training sessions at the Prins Willem Alexander School in St. Peters for nearly 15 years. As the school is closing and will be replaced, training will now be held from 5:00 to 8:00pm Thursdays and 4:00 to 7:00pm Sundays at Helmich Snijder Hillside Christian School at the Grape Fruit Road. "It's important Tae kwon do continues in St. Peters especially for those children that don't have transportation," said Liu. The Grandmaster also conducts training sessions in Middle Region at the Sister Marie Laurens School Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- In an effort to encourage, motivate, and support fathers in their parenting role, the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development, and Labour (VSA) in collaboration with Social Health Insurances (SZV) have centered their 4thAnnual Pregnancy Market's theme on "Pregnancy and Dad's Care: "It's a role we share". The Pregnancy Market kicks off this weekend on Saturday, September 6th 2014 at the National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA) in Cay Hill next to the Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School between 10AM -3PM Read more

Nia Set To Open School Year With New Classes

PHILPSBURG, St. Maarten — The National institute of Arts (NIA) reopened for the 2014-2015 school year on Monday, September 1 with a full roster of established and new classes at the John Larmonie Center.

Classes being offered for the new school year include Ballet, Modern, Creative, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Afro-Caribbean, African, Folk Dance, Hip Hop, Modern, Brain Dance, Yoga, Pilates, Conditioning, Bharatanayam, Belly Dance, Capoeira, Zumba ,Sound Engineering, Art of Laughter, Performance Skills, Drummer, and Choir Read more

Pregnancy Market 2014

~ Focus on the fathers ~

In an effort to encourage, motivate and support fathers in their parenting role, the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development, and Labour (VSA) will be hosting its third Annual Pregnancy Market on Saturday, September 6, at National Institute for Performance Arts (NIPA) in Cay Hill next to Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

This year's Pregnancy Market will be used as a vehicle to highlight and emphasize the importance of a father's involvement in the life of a child from the onset of pregnancy and beyond Read more

Healthy eating equals healthy education!

What to put in your child's lunch kit Packing healthy and nutritious snacks and meals for your child to take to school five days a week can be challenging for some parents, particularly if you're not quite sure what constitutes a "healthy" meal and if you have a child who constantly nags you for "junk" food. Nutritionist Swinda Richardson from the Ministry of Public Health says despite the challenges they face, parents should remain firm in their resolve to continue having their child consume healthy edibles: "Children are very active in school and need energy to focus on their lessons in class Read more