WESTERN BUREAU:
The MOUNt Alvernia High School in Montego Bay is now gearing up for what it expects will be a smooth path to the seamless interactive learning via the installation digital projectors on each block at the school.
Yesterday, the school received its 10th projector since the start of the school year. Another five are expected to be handed over to the school shortly, bringing the overall total to 15.
The latest donation came courtesy of a long-time friend of the school, Allied Insurance Brokers, a subsidiary of GraceKennedy Group.
"A request was made and so the staff and the management of Allied Insurance had an in-house fundraising event, where proceeds were used to purchase one of the projectors for the school," said Gabrielle Lee, the senior account executive at Allied Insurance, who is also vice-president of the local arm of the school's past students' association.
Stacey Reynolds, the principal at Mount Alvernia High School, told The Gleaner that the projectors will serve as a multimodal form of teaching and provide a more engaging way to get lessons and objectives across in the classrooms.
"One of the things we are trying to do, based on the education ministry's mandate, is to make the classrooms more tech-friendly, and so, on each block, we are trying to establish one classroom where a projector is installed," explained Reynolds.
"We currently have only one multimedia room, and the entire school have to share it. The limited resources create a tussle. However, we started the school year with none, and now we are up to 10, having received two more this week."
Reynolds, who has been principal at the school for just a year and half, thanked Allied Insurance for the generous donation and noted that the kind gesture will go a far way in achieving the school's ambitious goal to be fully up to speed in the use of technology.