Buccament Bay Secondary receives a Literacy boost

Students challenged in the area of literacy at the Buccament Bay Secondary School last week received a boost from two of this country’s charitable organizations.{{more}}

On Thursday, May 19, members of the Rotary Club of St, Vincent and the Grenadines and the Mustique Charitable Trust journeyed to the school where they handed over reading material and computers to the school’s Library, as part of the Rotary Club’s Literacy Project.

The acquisition of the material was made possible in part by a grant by the Mustique Charitable Trust, who partnered with the Rotary Club to make the contribution to the school a reality.

President of the Rotary Club Dr. Francois Truchot said that the Club, driven by the desire to improve Literacy in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, urged the students to make the best use of the material which was provided to them, and thanked the Ministry of Education for facilitating the Club in its venture to raise the reading standards in the country.

He also thanked the Mustique Charitable Trust for its donation of more than $10,000 that was made towards the project, noting that the project would not have been as successful as it is without their contribution.

Lavinia Gunn, Administrator of the Mustique Charitable Trust, who also addressed the gathering, said that she hoped that the goal of increasing the interest in reading and improving reading skills will be achieved by its donation to the project, which included a number of books written by local authors.

She said as part of the Trust’s contribution, a quantity of books will be purchased over a two year period, which will supplement the Club’s implementation of Library systems, equipment and training in the schools.

Gunn congratulated the Club for its role in the fight against the Literacy problem in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and indicated that the Trust was pleased to be a partner in the initiative.

Also addressing the gathering was Carlton Hall, representing the Ministry of Education, as well as the school’s acting Principal Kay Martin Jack and Earl Cruickshank, head of theEnglish and Modern Languages Department at the school. They all thanked the organizations for the gesture made towards the school, which they indicated will be of huge benefit to the school, whose Literacy level is one of the lowest in the country.

This is just one of the Literacy projects that the Rotary Club is currently undertaking. The Club recently successfully launched a computerized literacy project, with the help of the Bank of Nova Scotia at the Georgetown Secondary School.

The projects are being coordinated by the Club’s Vocational Service Director Lisa Casino.(JJ)