PETERSFIELD, Westmoreland — Principal of the Petersfield High School in Westmoreland, Clyde Evans has been left overwhelmed following the fulfilment of a dream of his staff and his, to have the school’s main computer lab refurbished.

“I am totally happy about today’s [Friday] activity, because we had previously requested from the ministry permission to transfer money from one account [subvention account used to pay staff] to the school’s general account to be able to refurbish the computer room. And while we were waiting patiently and not getting any progress there (red tape and Government bureaucracy), this fell in my lap,” expressed an elated Evans.

Evans was speaking of the recent refurbishing of the school’s main computer lab by an overseas community development group with Jamaican roots called RCM Development and Community Services Inc. The acronym RCM represents the first letter in the Christian names of the principals — Roy Reid [president], Claudette Phipps [secretary] and Merton Owens [treasurer] who all were present for the reopening ceremony at the school on Friday.

Owens is from the Roaring River and Shrewsbury communities, which are near to Petersfield.

The overhauled and upgraded room saw the sealing lowered, floor tiled and and fixtures installed. In addition, the lab received 21 computers, 21 desks, 21 chairs, two printers, one network server, two uninterruptible power supply [UPS] units, one video projector, and a screen. All items are new and the project lasted a little over two weeks.

Petersfield is the second school in the island to receive such a lab. The first school to benefit was Islington High School in St Mary in June of last year. That school has since been renamed the Horace Clarke High School, in honour of the former Member of Parliament and Cabinet minister.

Owens, in his presentation, stated that following the Islington project, the next one would be in his parish. He said that Petersfield High was selected following suggestions made.

The principal said that at first he was sceptical when the school was first approached in May, due to failed promises in the past from other groups.

“We have had people come by and promise us the world and nothing was delivered, so I was a bit sceptical, because when he (Owens) outlined what they were prepared to do — and it is not that we contacted them, he literally came and offered — it seemed too good to be true. But after I had dialogue with the principal of Islington, he told me that ‘no man, we have benefited; they are real’. I became much more open to the idea and readily jumped at it,” stated Evans.

Head of the Information Technology Department for almost 15 years, Daniel Wisdom said that the school’s original lab and computers were put in operation almost 20 years ago by the school’s former principal, Dr Basil Chambers.

He said that parts were difficult to obtain for the old machines, which were reduced from 25 to five partially working computers.

“When we have 50-odd students come into a classroom with basically no machines… in fact, for nearly four years I stayed away from the room. I refused to go in there because there were no machines to use,” pointed out Wisdom, who added that the school had to change its syllabus.

He further explained, “the machines didn’t work. It would take 10, 15 minutes for some of these machines to get up [boot up]. You go into Microsoft Word, these machines wouldn’t move at all.”

The school has an e-learning lab also which students had to depend on, even though there are issues with those computers as well.

In the years 2000 and 2001, the school had two top-performing male students who received the best CXC grades in the Caribbean in information technology.

Wisdom said that despite the challenges, the students continue to perform well in their examinations. However, he added that due to the challenges, less students are now sitting that CXC exam.

Wisdom said that the new “top of the line” computers will allow the school to provide other computer-related training, such as designing, photo and video editing.

Petersfield High is a shift school with approximately 1,800 students in total enrolled, and with a total of 76 teachers including the principal and two vice-principals on staff. The shifts are placed in the categories, lower [first to third formers] and upper school [fourth and fifth formers to include two top streams of grade nine]. The lower shift has almost 1,000 students.

The multi-talented Wisdom was the first teacher in Jamaica to create a platform for the school, using his personally designed programme and Google Apps for Education. Wisdom said that these programmes allow teachers, parents and other stakeholders to go online with a prerequisite password to be able to partake in the school’s discipline, academics, reports, grades, performance, level of progress and timetable. However, the principal pointed out that despite these advances in technology, there is a challenge as the school is located in a rural community where internet access is not widely accessible and therefore traditional methods are still being utilised.

Meanwhile Reid, who was once a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force Band before emigrating, disclosed that RCM has committed to installing an air conditioning unit in the band’s practising room.

“You and your band will have an environment that is conducive to practising, because when I was there we never had no air condition. So I want you all to have air condition in your band room,” stated Reid to the band and it’s leader who were present and played at the function.

The team’s next project will take place in Portland next year and Clarendon in the following year.

Custos rotulorum for Westmoreland, Rev Canon Hartley Perrin and Ministry of Education representative Jacqueline Brown all expressed thanks to RCM and emphasised the importance of showing appreciation for the gesture of kindness.