Sandals Foundation remains committed to providing children in Barbados with access to technology.
Students of the St Catherine’s Primary School are now better equipped to face the limitless opportunities of today’s information technology-driven world having been gifted 20 new lap tops.
The smiles and cheers of the children when presented with the learning devices by the Sandals Foundation team, led by Public Relations Manager David Hinds along with resort volunteers, was truly inspirational and gratifying for everyone involved.
“With every element of our lives connected in one way or another to the internet, increasing access to digital devices not only builds the capacity of students to comfortably function in society, but it also increases students’ ability to explore and let technology do more for them,” said Hinds.
The donation follows a site visit last December by Sandals Foundation Executive Director Heidi Clarke. After discussions with principal Harriet Blackman, the Foundation made its decision to assist the school with its IT Program.
“The Sandals Foundation is continuing our drive to provide children across the Caribbean with the digital tools needed to ensure they are developing the requisite skills in this age of Information Technology. Having a world of information at their fingertips provides them with knowledge of opportunities are available to them, which ultimately inspires them to create the future they desire,” said Clarke.
Sandals Barbados PR Manager, David Hinds presents the laptops to Principal Harriet Blackman as Information Technology Coordinator Sabrina Coppin-Kellman and PTA Member Joyan Best look on.
Principal Blackman was elated at the donation and thanked Sandals for rising to the occasion, noting that it was members of the PTA who made the initial call to the Foundation.
“The PTA was crucial to making today possible. One of the members read about the work the Sandals Foundation was dong in Barbados and decided to reach out and ask a question and we were quite surprised by the response and site visit we received,” said Blackman.
Information Technology Coordinator of the School Sabrina Coppin-Kellman explained that the laptops come at great time due to the needs of the school.
“Before today one of the problems was that we didn’t have enough devices for each class. We would have three children to one device; now having this quota of devices we can provide each child with a laptop and teachers can also integrate the technology into their individual subject areas such as Mathematics, Language Arts, etc.
“Currently we have a syllabus that we use in Primary Schools and it ranges from classes 1-4 where we introduce the children to basic computer studies so they know the uses of the computer along with the do’s and don’ts of handling the devices.
“We will go into programs such as Microsoft word and Excel. With the recent introduction of coding and robotics, and this donation from the Sandals Foundation, we are now able to use the software ‘Scratch’ where students can develop their own little games and programs,” said Coppin-Kellman.
