The Sandals Foundation Ambassadors recently completed a tour of six primary schools, delivering educational toys and school supplies over a two-day period.
The initiative not only brought joy to the students and teachers but also provided essential resources to help support and enhance the educational experiences at these primary schools, marking a memorable end to the 2024 school year.
The schools visited included Enid Capron, Ianthe Pratt, Thelma Lightbourne, and Oseta Jolly Primary Schools, as well as Bethany’s Educational and Social Training (BEST) and MILLS Institutes.
The latter two schools, which were being visited by the Foundation team for the first time, received an array of educational supplies. These supplies included notebooks, calculators, rulers, scissors, pencil cases, backpacks, erasers, packs of folder leaves, construction paper, pencils, pencil crayons, wax crayons, and paint kits.
In addition to the school supplies, each school received a variety of toys aimed at fostering creative thinking, mathematical skills, and vocabulary development.
The toys donated included Wakanda Forever, Otrio Tic-Tac-Toe, Mini Cascading Cups and Mini Spirals, giant wooden dice sets, giant wooden dominoes, Baa Baa, Bubbles, Reverse Charades, Go Trio, Beat the Parents family game, Baby Shark toy sets, Hedbanz, Upwords jigsaw puzzle game, Santorini castle building game, Sinister 6 Spider-Man game, Head Up Guess the Word Game, giant Jenga blocks, superhero action figures, and Bellz, a colourful auditory toy; all of which were from Hasbro, a leading toy and game company whose mission it is to entertain and connect generations of fans through the wonder of storytelling and exhilaration of play.
The donations were strategically timed to coincide with the end of the school year, providing fun elements for students during their school fun days and class parties. Additionally, the supplies will help teachers and administrators plan for the upcoming school year with necessary materials already on hand.
At Thelma Lightbourne Primary School, teachers Daleovaun Hardware and Luywine Francis received the donations on behalf of the school’s administrators. The students, including Dasia Duckenson of grade 2D and Aidan Gibson of grade 3 JWP, were thrilled with the new toys.
“Are all these toys for us?” Dasia questioned. “I think it is really cool that we will get to play games in class,” Aidan added. Both students were very thankful.
The visit to Ianthe Pratt Primary School saw the Sandals Foundation Ambassadors engaging in a fun game of giant Jenga with head boy, Mark Morrison of grade 6 CM, and Alishaina Nordelus of grade 6 MP. Principal Neekimo King expressed excitement about the variety of games, noting their potential to make learning math fun and engaging.
“Children learn best when they are engaged in fun activities,” said King. She continued, “At Ianthe Pratt, we encourage recreational time with learning activities where children can see their teachers at play and both can have fun together.”
The Beaches team was warmly welcomed at BEST Institute. Principal Darlene Lightbourne, Vice Principal Nadienne Crossman, and other faculty members expressed their gratitude and longest serving teacher, Mrs. Paula Mayhem, remarked on the unprecedented nature of the donation. “
Since this school was founded in 2000, it is the first we have received a gift like this.” She also highlighted the importance of the new relationship with Beaches and the Sandals Foundation.
“Despite our limited resources, we continue to excel academically and otherwise,” said Vice Principal Crossman, noting the school’s recent academic achievements.
“In 2023 we were the top performing school in the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) as Jonathan Brisbane was the top performer. This year at the National Primary School Spelling Bee Competition, Sydney Brisbane of grade 5 placed fourth. She is the sister of former student, Jonathan Brisbane. She tied with a student at another school,” shared Vice Principal Crossman.
The tour concluded at MILLS Institute, where founder, Dr. Carlton Mills; Principal, Jenniemae Forbes, grade six teacher Janet Bantigue, and Information Technology teacher, Vanessa Sacay, were on hand to welcome the Sandals Foundation Ambassadors. Dr. Mills emphasised the impact of the donation, noting the often-overlooked needs of private schools.
“Thank you to Beaches Turks and Caicos and the Sandals Foundation for taking the initiative to provide such a wide variety of toys and stationery to help boost the educational service that we offer,” said Dr. Mills.
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