Orange Valley students should gain more than just a greater awareness of tourism this month with the help of a new programme now being incorporated into their curriculum. MOVE (Mobile Opportunity via Education), is an activity-based curriculum designed to teach children who have difficulty moving or walking basic, functional, motor skills needed for adult life. With the aid of special equipment, and a unique method of instruction, it is hoped that students' will eventually be able to increase their movement independence. And, as teachers at the Devonshire school highlight tourism this month, perhaps an even greater insight will be gained into the industry through this new method of learning. "The MOVE curriculum is a new method of instruction which focuses on children from the top down instead of the traditional way of focusing on them from the bottom up,'' explained principal Geraldine Lambert. "It is an activity-based curriculum designed to teach students basic, functional motor skills needed for adult life within the home and community environments. It combines natural body mechanics with an instructional process designed to help the students acquire increasing amounts of motoric independence necessary for sitting, standing, and walking.'' MOVE programme coordinator Virginia Paleg of Washington D.C. came to the Island at the beginning of the year to teach 42 participants from the education community, as well as six families, just how to implement the curriculum. It was originally designed to meet the needs of students over the age of seven who had not developed the physical skills necessary to support themselves when they were either seated, standing, or taking steps but was developed after non-ambulatory students began graduating from schools at age 22, with fewer skills than when they entered at age three. After it was proven successful however, the programme was expanded to include infants, adults and students with orthopaedic handicaps. Mrs. Lambert said she came across the MOVE curriculum while at a conference in Florida last March. She said it was the programme she had been searching for years. And after her staff and Parent Teacher Association greeted it so enthusiastically, she decided to organise Mrs. Paleg's trip here for the workshop. According to Mrs. Lambert, the equipment used in the curriculum: Places students in positions for performing functional activities such as moving from one place to another, self-feeding, self-controlled toileting, table work and leisure activities Allows staff to physically manage the student while teaching appropriate movement patterns Allows the students to practice motor skills independently Is designed to help improve the bone and joint health of the students, and to increase the muscle strength of the extensor musculature of the body.

The equipment will be on display during the school's open house on tourism this month. Highlighted at the time will be various aspects Aspects of industry on display "Because the theme is tourism, each group in the school has taken on a special area of tourism and is doing a display,'' explained Mrs. Lambert. "We will have various displays with one group focusing on places of interest, another focusing on people of the community, and yet another group looking at some of Bermuda's traditions.'' Said Ursula Kennedy, Group One instructor: "To say that tourism is Bermuda's prime industry on which the whole economy is built is almost to understate the meaning. Of all Government ministries, tourism is the one most scrutinised by all politicians. This year, Government's education month mission statement specifies that tourism reflect the interrelationship of all that we do in Bermuda. "It is with this in mind that staff and students in Group one have decided to give prominence to an awareness and an appreciation for each part that our community workers play in the success of the tourism industry. Through visual displays, we have chosen to highlight the dynamic, flamboyant gombey entertainers as well as community workers such as bus drivers, members of the Police Force, postmen and fire fighters with whom we all liaise and who have visited us regularly throughout the years.'' Also to be examined is the work done by WindReach Recreational Village in Warwick, an activities centre which has enabled Orange Valley students to experience farm and animal life. "Every week Orange Valley students delight in their Tuesday morning excursion to the recreational village,'' she said. "Shrieks of joy are heard as they sit on the backs of...horses instead of (in) their wheelchairs...experiencing physical contact and hands-on activities.'' According to Mrs. Lambert, Group Two will be looking at the beauty of Bermuda, highlighting many of our water sports.

"We're concentrating on the theme of promoting water sports in the idyllic waters off the shores of Bermuda,'' she said. "The theme of water sports was chosen as there are certain aspects of water sports which may interest, stimulate, and involve any number of the members of our society. (With water sports), one can act as a spectator and merely look...One doesn't actively have to participate to fully appreciate the skill and beauty and enjoy the fun and excitement. "Water sports also tie in with another school topic which the students are learning -- the different parts of the body and their functions.

(They) are learning about our five senses -- touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing and most water sports can be linked to these senses in some aesthetic association form. We are also producing a collage of the Island which will visually depict these sports, and which will involve only natural materials.

Each student will be able to participate at their own level and in their own time and will also be able to feel, smell and see the material that they are using. Basically, the displays should be quite attractive and will have pictures and written information to accompany the displayed crafts. But, more importantly, each student will have fun.'' In Group Three, headed by Joy Todd and Dana Steede, the children are set to focus on some of Bermuda's better known traditions. "The intention is to highlight a few...which are visible to tourists as they travel throughout the Island,'' said the teachers. "For Sites to be on display David's lighthouse, Bermuda smiles, Horseshoe Bay beach, and the various modes of transport -- bus, moped or horse and carriage. The display will be called `Sites of Bermuda' and has been chosen because it is an area in which student participation can be achieved.'' The school's displays are now open to the public through Friday, February 21. PHOTO Six-year-old West Pembroke student Zeik Blakeney gets help from Washington D.C. Mobile Opportunity Education programme co-ordinator, Virginia Paleg Students at Orange Valley school created a map of the Island and highlighted places of interest as one of their exhibits during Education Month. Orange Valley students also crafted models of some of Bermuda's better-known tourist attractions, traditions and other things which draw tourists to the Island such as our gombeys, smiles and scenery. The Committee of 25's donation helped purchase the MOVE equipment.

Shown, member Frances Clarke (right) with principal Geraldine Lambert.

EDUCATION MONTH ED