If there is one virtue Neil Phillips possesses, it is patience.Armed with loads of that special quality, the Barbadian was instrumental in building a five-foot model of a 400-year-old ship called Patience, which won first prize for the Clearwater Middle School in the 2010 Annual Agricultural Exhibition in Bermuda.Phillips, the design and technology teacher at the educational institution for the past three years, said the idea to rebuild that ship was that of the deputy principal Dr Dereck Tully.After much research, he and his team decided to recreate the Patience as a part of last year’s celebrations of the 400th anniversary of thesettlement of the island.The original 30-ton sailing vessel was built by Sir George Somers to travel from Bermuda to Virginia, in May 1610. It is believed that Sir George and his crew were travelling from England to Virginia, but somewhere off the coast of Bermuda their ship was wrecked and they built the Patience and the Deliverance.“My deputy principal decided we should do a model of the Patience and make it into an educational project, where the students would be involved. But we started to do some research on the history behind the Patience only to realise that no one knew exactly what it looked like. We came up with some ideas of what we thought it would have looked like at that time based on some drawings. So we did our own drawings and made a five-foot model.“We started in November 2009 and we sent it to the 2010 exhibition held in April and it won first prize,” said an enthusiastic Phillips.The ship was constructed by a “crew” of female students and six boys ranging from 12 to 13 years old. They worked under the guidance of Phillips, Tully and the school’s principal Carlos Symonds.“The students covered things in the curriculum which would have also helped them in making the model. The girls involved in the project were doing research in the family studies department, where they researched the type of clothes those men on the ship would have been wearing at that time and the type of food they would have eaten,” said the teacher of over 30 years.The 50-year-old educator said the students were very excited about the project and already they were looking forward to next year’s.“My deputy principal and I already have plans for next year. We already have things on the drawing board. We are looking for another first prize. It is two years in a row that we have won first prize at the exhibition . . . ,” he said.National Geographic became interested in the project when representatives visited Bermuda to talk to St David’s Islanders about their links to the Piqout Indians. The project is now featured on its website in a photo gallery.Phillips said his satisfaction came when he saw the finished product of any project or assignment.“My motivation really is to see the students excel, and to be honest with you, most of those students really like design and technology. They just love to be doing things with their hands and getting the hands-on experience. To see the end product is really the satisfaction for me. Teaching is the only thing I ever did. My satisfaction is seeing students excel. There is a good feeling in that,” he said. Phillips said during the making of the model pinnace there were hardly any challenges.“We didn’t really have any challenges. The only main challenge was trying to get it finished on time,” he said.Phillips, who has one son, taught at the St George Secondary School for 28 years before migrating to Bermuda. Speaking from his home in Sugar Hill, St Joseph, during a recent visit, Phillips gave some advice to fellow teachers and parents.“What we have to realise is that all students are not academically inclined and there are some students . . . that really learn better through experience. When you realise that students have certain talents, let them excel in that particular area,” encouraged Phillips.He is expected to return to Bermuda later this month.
