Wed | May 1, 2024

Sav-la-Mar Primary benefits from adopt-a-school initiative

Published:Monday | August 1, 2022 | 12:06 AMSonae Rose/ Gleaner Intern
Garold Hamilton (seated centre), chairman, DTR Foundation; Megan Berry (seated left), principal, Savanna-la-Mar Primary School; Laumond Senior (seated at right), board chairman, Savanna-la-Mar Primary school, sign a Memorandum of Understanding between DTR
Ian Allen
Garold Hamilton (seated centre), chairman, DTR Foundation; Megan Berry (seated left), principal, Savanna-la-Mar Primary School; Laumond Senior (seated at right), board chairman, Savanna-la-Mar Primary school, sign a Memorandum of Understanding between DTR Foundation, Dequity Capital and Savanna-la-Mar Primary school under the Ministry of Education and Youth (MOEY) Adopt-A-School Programme. Observing the signing are (from left standing), Andrew Romans and Emily Palmer, both students at Savanna-la-Mar Primary; Latoya Harris, executive director, National Education Trust; Dr. Kasan Troupe, acting chief education officer, Ministry of Education and Youth; Adrian Smith, chief executive officer at Dequity Capital; De’sia Thomas, and Shevoy Reynolds, both students, Savanna-la-Mar Primary School. The signing took place at the Ministry of Education and Youth offices on Thursday, July 28.

The Savanna-la-mar Primary School, the Dream to Reality (DTR) Foundation, Dequity Capital Management Ltd, and the National Education Trust (NET), signed a memorandum of understanding under the Adopt-A-School Programme on July 28.

The memorandum is an agreement between all the parties that show their willingness to move forward with the initiative for the DTR Foundation and Dequity to adopt the Savanna-la-mar Primary School. This will be the first adoption in the programme.

“I want to assure the National Education Trust, DTR Foundation, and Dequity Capital that your benevolence will undoubtedly impact thousands of lives for years to come in a very positive way, of course,” said the principal of Savanna-la-mar Primary, Megan Berry.

She said that it was a “wow moment” for the Savanna-la-mar Primary family as they were benefiting from both DTR Foundation and Dequity Capital whose founders are both from Westmoreland.

The acting chief education officer of the Ministry of Education and Youth, Dr. Kasan Troupe, representing Fayval Williams, the minister of education and youth, said that the DTR Foundation and Dequity would be giving the primary school they were adopting US$10,000 annually for two years.

“I’m aware that this memorandum of understanding will see the Dream to Reality Foundation and Dequity Capital giving US$10,000 annually for two years to the Savanna-la-mar Primary School and we’ll see your school responding to immediate and short-term ongoing projects that will lift the infrastructure of your school, that will enrich your learning opportunities that you have designed for your institution,” she said.

GIVE BACK

The founder and chairman of the DTR Foundation, Garold Hamilton, said that the opportunity to give back to his alma mater and old community was appreciated.

“It’s a privilege for me to be here and to actually do something that I consider to be part of the legacy I’m trying to create of continuing to give and give back to communities,” he said.

He added that it was an honour to adopt the school for the younger generation and to see how they can benefit from the adoption.

Hamilton said that the idea of the adoption came from an assistant of Jamaica’s ambassador to the United States, Audrey Marks.

“The ambassador [Marks] had a meeting maybe about six or eight months ago, and one of her assistants mentioned to me, ‘Hey, there’s an adopt-a-school programme going on. Why don’t you be the first person to adopt a school?’.”

He added that the DTR Foundation wanted to be the first to adopt a school because they wanted to set an example and challenge other past students to do the same.

Executive director of the NET, Latoya Harris, explained in her opening remarks at the signing that the programme was not for past students alone.

“With the Adopt-A-School Programme, what we’re trying to do is to link not just the past students, but people who love Jamaica, organisations, everybody who has a genuine interest in education and the development of our children with our institutions across the islands,” she said.