MONTEGO BAY, St James — Students and staff members at the Bright Angels Pre-School and Kindergarten in Montego Bay are now a happier bunch, following the rehabilitative work to the school building and other remedial support.

The work was undertaken through a collaborative effort by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) Miami office; the Apple Leisure Group (ALG) out of the United States and local AM Resorts and AMStar Transportation.

Recently, about 40 volunteers converged at the school located on Union Street in the resort city where they carried out various aspects of work at the facility including the rehabilitation of the school’s playground and three classrooms, which involved replacing the sidings, painting and cleaning of the structure.

Francine Carter-Henry, the JTB’s representative in the USA for tour operators and airline partners based in Miami, expressed her joy about the impact that the work was having on the local community and not just the tourism product.

“We are not just focused on bringing tourists here. We are also committed to having the community impacted through a give back project that we continue to do, to impact our younger generation and enhance our education system,” Carter-Henry explained.

Representatives of ALG Vacations were on the island for an annual business planning meeting for their buying and marketing teams, and decided that they wanted to give back to the local community during their time in Jamaica.

This is also the first time that they have carried out such an endeavour on the island and Jean Downing, who is the senior vice-president for ALG Vacations, declared that they were happy to have been able to undertake the project.

“I was happy to be here with my team. All parties worked hard to try to make the place more beautiful and colourful for the children. We renovated three classrooms that hadn’t been able to be used since COVID and now more children will be able to come to this school because they’ll be able to use these classrooms. That just made us feel so good that we were able to assist those children,” Downing remarked.

“We are more than just about business. It’s not just the economics of bringing the American guests to the country. We feel that we need to give back to the communities that we support and support us,” remarked Dee Jones, Jamaica Destination Buyer for ALG Vacations.

“We brought in all the materials. We reconstructed the playground; painted, cleaned and reorganised some classrooms. We just made a difference for the children.”

Principal of the institution, Sharmena Campbell-Smith, described the gesture as a divine intervention.

“During COVID, we were hit really badly and a part of the school was closed down. They renovated all of that and gave us a playground, something we’d been asking for. We’ve been asking God for this playground since 2008 and to God be the glory, it is here, and I am so elated. The children are happy, the teachers are happy and we know the community at large will be pleased to see what we are doing here for the young ones,” said Campbell-Smith.