Rotary Club of MoBay donates 11 tablets to Irwin High School

WESTERN BUREAU:

Eleven needy students of the Irwin High School in St James were last week presented with much-needed computer tablets to facilitate online schooling, courtesy of a generous donation by the Rotary Club of Montego Bay.

The donation of the tablets, which are valued at $30,000, comes as a much-welcomed gift for 16-year-old grade 10 student Nicola Williams, who told The Gleaner that she previously had to borrow her mother’s phone to do her schoolwork online.

“I just want to thank the Rotary Club for the tablets, because before I got my tablet, schooling was a bit difficult because I did not have a device,” said Williams. “I had to use my mother’s phone, which was difficult because it is two of us and we cannot use the same device at once. But now with this tablet, things will be easier.”

Amber-Gail Grandison, president of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay, who visited the school for the hand-over ceremony, said the donation also marks her club’s adoption of Irwin High School for consideration in any future student-focused projects.

“I decided to adopt one school with which to continue all school-based projects for my term as president, and we decided to adopt Irwin High School. Continuing from this event, for any other project that we do that includes students, we will first come to Irwin High School to ensure that its students will benefit from what we do for this Rotary year,” Grandison told The Gleaner.

HANDING-OVER CEREMONY

“We ended up doing this handing over at the end of September due to all the lockdowns and curfews that the Government had previously imposed [to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic], and we were waiting to see what the determination would be regarding schools. When it was determined that schools would continue to be online, we thought it was imperative that we pursue this tablet donation project,” added Grandison.

The tablet donation is Grandison’s first major physical project since her installation as the Rotary Club of Montego Bay’s 14th female president in July. It also follows the Rotary Club’s provision of a water tank for Irwin High School, which took place in April this year.

Victor Newsome, principal at Irwin High School, commended the Rotary Club for its effort to improve the students’ learning accessibility.

“As a school, we are happy when our students are in a better position where teaching and learning is concerned. I am happy that the Rotary Club of Montego Bay has come forward and made this donation to needy students of Irwin High School so they will be able to participate better in the teaching and learning process,” said Newsome.

“We know that presently school is virtual, and a number of our students are not able to participate in the learning process using the online modality. Having this opportunity today to receive a tablet is beneficial to these students and the country in general, because the students will get the opportunity to participate in the learning process and improve their education, and we know that is a benefit to the country and the communities from which they are coming,” added Newsome.