Sun | May 12, 2024

Cornwall Gardens Basic School gets welcome facelift

Published:Wednesday | April 5, 2023 | 12:15 AMAlbert Ferguson/ - Gleaner Writer
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Volunteers from Hospiten Jamaica and other team members from the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Janet Richards Foundation, parents and members from the Mt. Salem Community Development Committee are captured here painting the monkey bar in th
Contributed
Volunteers from Hospiten Jamaica and other team members from the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Janet Richards Foundation, parents and members from the Mt. Salem Community Development Committee are captured here painting the monkey bar in the playground of the Cornwall Gardens Basic School.
Chavaughne Miller, commercial director at Hospiten Jamaica.
Contributed
Chavaughne Miller, commercial director at Hospiten Jamaica.
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WESTERN BUREAU:

The 94 students at the Cornwall Garden Basic School in Mt Salem, St James, are now housed in much more pleasant surroundings following a beautification exercise carried out at the institution recently.

Volunteers from Hospiten Jamaica, Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Janet Richards Foundation, and members of the community, spruced up the playing area by painting the monkey bars, tyres, and swings, and installing new seats.

Chavaughne Miller, commercial director at Hospiten Jamaica, said the project will be ongoing.

She said there are plans to transform the school’s sick bay into a more relaxing environment for the young students. “When they come to school, they want to be in an environment that feels safe and beautiful. It helps ...their minds so that they want to learn,” said Miller. “And as part of our social responsibility, we partnered with the Janet Richards Foundation and the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the school, and the wider community of Mt Salem to select this school to provide it with a facelift.”

“We painted the area, and we plan to furnish it with a bed - including putting in all the necessary equipment and other items to have a comfortable and safe space for the kids when they are not feeling ill. (It will be) somewhere that they can be stabilised, ahead of receiving further medical care,” said Miller.

Jermaine Robinson, a parent at the school, welcomed the initiative, saying that the Hospiten Jamaica team and partners gave the children the type of environment that will boost socialisation, which is key to their development. He said he joined volunteers on the project because of the all-around benefit the children will now enjoy from their new surroundings.

“This is where my children spend most of their time during the day, so I think it’s very important for me to maintain a relationship with the people who are overseeing my children for the sake of their education and well-being,” said Robinson.

Acknowledging that young children can be very difficult to manage at times, Robinson says having a good working relationship with their caregivers can help soften the approach to how children are treated.