THE Jeanette Grant Woodham Education Foundation will start offering bursaries to needy students of the Tivoli Gardens High School who display excellence in the areas of sports, arts and culture, beginning in September.

The grants will be offered in separate categories with lower and upper school students receiving grants. The foundation will also establish a homework and mentorship programme.

The foundation was officially launched on August 4 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, under the patronage of former prime minister, Edward Seaga, who also served as member of parliament for West Kingston for some 40 years.

Chairman of the foundation, Kiddo Smith, said that it aims to increase the number of students who matriculate to tertiary-level training.

“[Its] mission is to engage past students, community partners, and the private sector, as it seeks to stimulate excellence and raise the educational performance at the Tivoli Gardens High School, by funding grants and scholarships for students,” Smith said.

“Tivoli Gardens High School is more than an educational institution; it is responsible for the social development of its students. Thus, the need for the establishment of this foundation,” he added.

Explaining the rationale in naming the foundation after its former principal, Jeanette Grant Woodham, who is also a former president of the Jamaican Senate, treasurer Carlton Francis said the institution saw its most rapid expansion during her tenure.

He urged corporate Jamaica to assist the cause, by following the example of entities, such as Royale Computers and Accessories which has already shown its support through a donation of electronics.

Grant Woodham, who served the institution for 23 years, said she was honoured to have the foundation named after her.

She was a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) senator during the 1980s and was appointed Jamaica’s first female president of the Senate in 1984. She spoke of the strong link maintained by the alumnus of the institution.

“Everywhere I went there was someone who went to Tivoli,” she said. She also appealed for support for the project.