D&G Foundation provides 100 grocery packages to schools
AS THE country continues to navigate the current COVID-19 crisis, Jamaicans have seen many examples of teachers who have shown commitment and resolve in the face of challenges. With schools closed for more than a month, however, it is growing increasingly difficult for schools in the inner city to sustain their efforts.
For institutions like the Christian’s Early Childhood Academy in a Spanish Town Road community, there were always major socioeconomic hurdles to overcome. School principal Shericia Christian says now they have been dealt a particularly difficult hand. Students of her young cohort of 106 continue to struggle with the disruption to what are the most formative years of their education, in more ways than one.
LACKING STRUCTURE
“The structure we provide in the classroom is very important to young children who are just getting used to the system. This crisis has robbed them of that structure and some of them are having a really hard time focusing and making progress from home. It pains my heart each time a parent shares that one of our students is crying to return to school,” explains Christian.
An additional challenge that some teachers contend with is the nutritional well-being of students who depended on what was provided at school.
In response to the nutrition needs, the Desnoes & Geddes (D&G) Foundation provided more than 100 grocery packages to Christian’s Academy Basic School and the Callaloo Mews Basic School.
Stephanie Coy, project manager at the D&G
Foundation, states, “School closures have left these young ones without a structured academic routine and support. On top of that, it becomes all too easy for them to be distracted by the strain the crisis has placed on their households, making it difficult for them to regain momentum,” said Coy. “Now more than ever we must come to the aid of our dedicated teachers to ensure that no mind is left behind.”