Provide emotional support to your children – banker

Banker Nina Peters has urged the parents and guardians of preschoolers to provide their children with added emotional support, given the difficult year they have experienced.

For more than a year, students have been forced to learn remotely as schools remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly reduced the opportunity for children to learn in a physical environment and to play with their friends,” Peters bemoaned, as she addressed the children, their parents and guardians, during a school-leaving ceremony at the DRB Demonstration Basic School in Catherine Hall, St James, recently.

The JN Bank business relationship and sales manager said, “We hope that with the vaccination programme, things will return to near to what it used to be. In the interim, continue to support your children emotionally during this difficult time and teach them the COVID-19 protocols to help to keep them safe.”

She urged parents and guardians to champion their children’s passions by affirming their positive behaviours and maintaining a constructive influence on their lives.

“By championing their passion, by affirming them, and being a positive role model, your children will be on their way to the top,” she said.

In an interactive and colourful speech tailored for the children, she also encouraged the preschoolers to continue to dream big and work hard to succeed.

RISING ABOVE THE CHALLENGES

“Remember, boys and girls, the three things which you must do, if you want to strive for the top like Usain Bolt, are: One, dream big; two, practise a lot; and three, never give up!” she advised the youngsters.

Pointing to the challenges of the past year, she congratulated the graduates for completing their basic school education, “Yes, you have reasons to be happy. One, you are moving to a school for bigger children in September; and two, because you are seeing your friends and teachers in person today, for the first time in months,” she said, as she engaged them in a singalong of the popular chorus: ‘If You Are Happy and You Know It.’

School Principal Heather Wiggan also commended the youngsters on their achievements amid the challenges they will face during the pandemic. Quoting the late renowned American poet, Maya Angelou, she urged her students: “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

“The sentiment of rising in the face of adversity describes our dedicated teachers, amazing families and resilient students, who persisted despite untold challenges,” she affirmed.