By: Precious Mills

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Thursday 5th March 2026)-Parents, guardians and other well-wishers recently gathered at Cradles Learning Centre located in Fortlands, Basseterre to witness the official unveiling of a “Future World Influencers!” wall, a colourful display featuring dozens of individual face photographs of students enrolled at that early childhood school.

The launch event took place following the school’s morning devotion ceremony on Monday 2nd March 2026, designed to highlight the potential of the young learners collectively from the nurseries and classrooms. 

Among the parents in attendance was Kerecia Simmonds, who in speaking with reporters, described the project as both surprising and encouraging.

“I was actually shocked and I’m like ‘Wow’, this is something new. I’ve never seen this kind of thing happening…actually. It is interesting. I appreciate the fact that the students are being showcased. Everyone gets to see what is happening,” she said.

Simmonds added that being invited to participate in the moment made the experience even more meaningful for parents.

“More importantly, I like the fact that we were invited as parents, so we are part of what is happening at the school so I enjoyed that the most,” she commented.

When asked about the importance of the parent-child relationship within the school environment, Simmonds stressed that parents play a critical role in their children’s educational development.

“It is very important because, as we know, there are several stakeholders when it comes to education; not only the children and teachers but the community and most importantly the parents, and as parents we need to be involved in what’s happening with our children’s everyday life,” she noted.

School co-owner Cyril Ible Frederick, who operates the private learning centre alongside his wife Beverly ‘Teacher Bev’ Ible Frederick, explained that the unveiling was designed to further involve parents in the school’s activities while highlighting the aspirations attached to each child.

“Well, as you can see, we had this before…but this year we decided to get the parents more involved and let them see that their kids, from a simple picture that they are the future influencers as they call them now, ‘Power Brokers’; whatever you want to say and so we decided to just have a little different but extra [showcasing] so to speak… morning devotion and then come in and unveil the wall so that parents could see how the children looks on the wall,” Frederick explained.

He said the response from parents who attended the ceremony appeared positive, noting “Well, from the parents that were here, I think they were excited,” he added.

Ible Frederick also outlined the school’s interpretation of the term “Future Influencer.”

“Well, you know, an influencer is someone that’s going to shape how things are in the future. They are going to be leading; some are going to be shaping it, some are going to be leading the shape as it occurs. You know, so in other words, some will be inventors that’s going to be shaping the future, some are going to be the doctors who are going to be using some of those inventions, some of the lawyers, some of the firefighters, those are the persons that are going to dictate whether the world continues to be as it is, change for the better…those are the influencers for the future,” he said.

Another parent, Pooja Thakur (who originally hails from India), who has a three-year-old enrolled at the school, described the programme as a positive influence on young children.

“I think it’s a brilliant concept, brilliant. I am so happy that I am here in St. Kitts and I have a wonderful school for my child,” she said.

Thakur said she has already seen how the school’s activities have influenced her son’s interests.

“As Mr. Ible was telling, like you know the influencers when you were asking what influence they are putting on the kids. There are firefighters, the fire truck is coming in [to visit the school], the police officers are coming in, people from different professions are coming in to influence the kids. So my son, he aspires to become a firefighter because he is too much obsessed with the fire truck. And he is just  three years old who aspires. I don’t remember I used to aspire being so young to become something so yes they are doing a very good

job,” she highlighted.

She also shared an example of how lessons learned at school have begun to shape her child’s behaviour at home.

“One thing that I have noticed I would like to talk about since the last two to three weeks is if something like the milk spills out or the water or the juice drops; even a drop if it falls so what he does he knows the cleaning cloth. He goes without disturbing me, he picks it up, he cleans it and says ‘Mama, mama I wiped it.’ So he is helping me,” Thakur said.

She added that the experience reinforced the importance of early childhood development.

“This age is very important. It is foundation. If they are shaping the kids from now, I guess they are going to be great persons,” she said.

Parents also noted that the school makes deliberate efforts to keep them involved in daily activities through projects, events and updates shared through digital platforms.

Ible Frederick said parental involvement remains a key part of the school’s view point.

“It’s very important. You know, at Cradle’s Learning Centre we try to involve our parents in as many activities, but actually the activities are there for them to participate and we encourage the participation,” he said.

He also highlighted the school’s learning values.

“We are an innovative school. We don’t go by the norms…We do a lot of things to basically let the child’s personality come out,” Ible Frederick stated.

He added that the school places emphasis on early stimulation and experiential learning, including field trips and outdoor activities that allow children to explore beyond the classroom.

“And so early stimulation in every class. That’s why we go for walks and we go for tours because the world is not just in the school, the world is outside,” he said.

As gathered, the Future World Influencers wall, displayed at the school, stands as a visual reminder of the aspirations that the educators and parents hold for the children of Cradle’s Learning Centre children whose journeys, they hope, are just beginning.