Jamaica museum extends cultural programme to Atlanta high schools

Dr Apollone Reid, president of the Jamaican Museum and Cultural Center (JMCC), has indicated that the JMCC’s cultural school programme has been extended to high schools in Atlanta.

Reid noted that a major objective of the programme was to create a sense of aspiration in young people in the Atlanta area, that will inspire them to achieve their greatest human potential.

She said that, when a JMCC team visited, students from the Lakeside High School were excited to learn about the Jamaican traditions that influenced Jamaican icons such as Usain Bolt, Bob Marley, and other great achievers.

The theme of discussion centred on the banana industry and its historical importance to Jamaica, as well as the numerous professions that can emanate from the product.

Reid said the students enjoyed tasting the value-added product of banana chips provided by GraceKennedy.

She emphasised the nutritious value in the popular staple, seen in Jamaican students’ lunch bags on a regular basis.

The students at Lakeside High School will have the opportunity to plant banana suckers and nurture them to maturity, she said, allowing them to gain insight into the origins of the product they tasted.

She used the opportunity to emphasise the fact that civil right leader, the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, admired the Jamaican culture and desired to see the unity of the races he saw lived out in Jamaica be the reality in the United States.

Reid, with the support of Vice President Christine Marzouca and secretary, Val Marks, will continue the programmes in Atlanta schools, with the objective of diverting the youths away from risky behaviours.

The programmes, Reid said, will help realise the vision of the JMCC as they disseminate the various themes of its mission, while increasing the demand for the value-added products on supermarkets shelves close to these schools.