Congrats and a suggestion for JC
Dear Editor,
Heartiest congratulations to Jamaica College (JC) for constructing apartments for its staff members as part of its development plan, as articulated in Petre Williams-Raynor’s article in the Sunday Observer on January 20, 2013.
This speaks volumes about the quality of the school’s human resources management policies and programmes.
This campus residency initiative, however, is not new and dates back to the late 19th century when the Simms Hall building, one of JC’s four national monuments, provided lodging for the headmaster, assistant masters, a matron and servants; and boarding rooms for between 50 and 60 boys (source: Veront Satchell, Hope Transformed – A Historical Sketch of the Hope Landscape, St Andrew, Jamaica, 1660-1960 – University of the West Indies Press 2012, p. 283).
This occurred under the dynamic leadership of Rev William Simms and others who, according to Satchell, “wrote a proposal in early 1889 for the extension of university teaching to Jamaica”. (p.286).
Jamaica College, in its quest to provide realistic teaching to its students pursuing technical drawing at the CXC level (the preliminary stages of which are done from as early as second and third forms), could consider as a possible School-Based Assessment project, the digital reconstruction of the past accommodations offered at Simms Hall and perhaps post it on the school’s website, as part of its heritage thrust.
This kind of activity, I suspect, would provide practical experience for JC students as well as assist them in establishing historical connections between the present and the past, displaying the magnitude of the school’s architectural heritage.
After all, Jamaica College will not only accommodate staff, but also currently houses 50 per cent of the national monuments at Hope.
Having made the link, the next step would be to train students as tour guides through their heritage club to disseminate the rich educational legacy of their school.
Joan Francis
Museum and heritage preservation officer
University of Technology, Jamaica
