THE Pompano  Beach, Florida-based Lighthouse Christian School (LCS) and the Sandals Foundation last week handed over 250 writing desks and chairs to the Mount Airy Primary and Infant School in Westmoreland.

The contribution of school equipment, valued at approximately US$35,000, was facilitated in part by Julie Watson, a local

area South Florida businesswoman whose children attended LCS, and the school’s principal Rita O’Leary.

The Florida-based school said it wanted to give back and provide opportunities for children less fortunate through educational support, while the Sandals Foundation forged a link between both schools, shipped the items to Jamaica and arranged the delivery to Mount Airy Primary and Infant, which is one of more than 90 schools the Foundation has assisted in the Caribbean since its inception.

Mount Airy principal, Karen Anderson-McKenzie, lauded the overseas donors as well as the Sandals Foundation for their timely gesture, adding that some of the old benches that were replaced have been in existence at her school since its doors opened in 1989. “With the set-up of this new furniture children will now be able to work more comfortably in learning groups and teachers will be able to easily facilitate individual learning,” she said. “Each child will also have the opportunity to work at their own pace and focus better as the learning space will no longer be restricted by multiple children in one bench, for example” she added.

To complement the donation of classroom fixtures, the Sandals Foundation has also organised a ‘pen-pal system’ between the two schools, which will encourage year-round communication. To jump-start the process, an effort was made to ensure that each desk came with its very own letter.

“We hope that the pen-pal programme will help the previous and present owners of each desk to learn about each other’s cultures as well as build on the initiatives we have led at Mount Airy over the years to improve literacy – it is our wish that this will coach students to write, encourage them to read, question each other, and ultimately become more well-rounded individuals,” said Heidi Clarke, director of programmes at Sandals Foundation.

It is a move Principal Anderson-McKenzie fully endorses. “The Sandals Foundation’s work in this school with the Reading Road Trip, computer donations, literacy programmes and provision of supplies that better equip our children and teachers to work more effectively has served to boost our students’ performance in national exams and make our school more attractive to parents. We therefore believe that this new programme is another blessing,” she said.

The school has a student population of 600 from K1 to Grade 6.