Alessandro Boyd, Gleaner Writer Millicent Graham, principal of Alpha Primary School in St Andrew , could not contain her delight yesterday as she declared that the Scotia Foundation has made a “world of difference” in the lives of everyone at the institution. Graham was speaking with The Gleaner yesterday after the Foundation officially handed over the school’s refurbished staffroom and computer lab. “We are very excited and grateful for this gift and we felt that we needed to take the time to publicly thank them. These gifts are highly appreciated as they refurbished the computer room with a gift of 13 computers and workstations,” Graham said. “This has impacted the lives of our students and I am sure several more opportunities will present themselves due to this. It is going to impact their career path and the possibilities are endless as their technological skills are going to develop drastically,” she added. Deplorable condition Graham noted that the staffroom and computer lab were both in deplorable condition before Scotia Foundation’s intervention. “The computers were malfunctioning, they were slow and some were not even working so it was a breath of fresh air when (Scotia Foundation) stepped in,” she said. “When it came to computer classes, it was difficult to have two or three computers that were working with a class filled with students.” She added: “The staffroom also really needed refurbishing. It was not very pleasing to sit in there and it has lifted the morale of the staff. Now we can meet in an environment that is comfortable and the teachers are truly grateful that the room has been painted, floors tiled and cupboards installed, among many other things.” Joylene Griffiths-Irving, executive director for the Scotia Foundation, also commented on the significance of the occasion and the important role that it would play in Grade Six Achievement Test preparations. “I chose Alpha because they wrote to us and asked us to assist. It was quite apt for us to do something because they asked us to look at the computer lab and we came in and did it. This is something we wanted to do as it is important for primary schools to have a computer lab, especially programmes like GoGSAT that will be very helpful,” Griffiths Irving told The Gleaner. “I’m very happy because the children came and were so excited, they just couldn’t wait to get in the seats and turn on their computers. I can only imagine how they feel, they get to do so many things and they looked very pleased,” she added.
Scotia Foundation makes ‘world of difference’ to Alpha Primary | Lead Stories | Jamaica Gleaner
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