Team members from Sandals Resorts Montego Bay region have launched the Mentorship 2.0 programme at the Flankers Primary and Infant School by sharing special sessions with the school population, inclusive of grade 6 students who will be sitting the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations this year.

The team members from Sandals Montego Bay and Sandals Royal Caribbean have also been assisting with providing meals for students attending PEP Saturday classes as they prepare for their exams.

The group of enthusiastic mentors last Thursday staged role plays and sought to build the self-esteem of the students as well as heighten their confidence, particularly those scheduled to sit PEP.

The mentorship sessions will take place once per month and will feature Sandals team members from various departments at the two resorts.

The students expressed their gratitude for the advice and love shared by the team members and thanked them for taking time out of their busy work schedule to impart their knowledge and experience with them.

According to Ian Spencer, Sandals regional public relations manager for Montego Bay: “Our team members were happy and very receptive to becoming mentors to the Flankers Primary students. Many of them have had their lives transformed by mentors in their formative years and saw this opportunity as a way of giving back.”

Spencer said the company was delighted to provide the level of support for the students, understanding the level of anxiety associated with PEP and other internal exams, as well as the challenges young people face fitting into today’s society.

The sessions are being dubbed Mentorship 2.0 because it is an upgraded version of those undertaken in the past, featuring more interaction with the mentees.

“Our team members were cognisant of the fact that students are in need of role models and guidance,” Spencer said.

“My team understands what these kids are going through as they have all been there. This is really a labour of love and one we are very happy to perform,” added Spencer.

He was effusive in his praise for Flankers Primary Principal Collette Barnes, who has overseen a transformation of the school and re-energised the surrounding communities to assist the institution.

“We have created a dynamic partnership with the principal and, by extension, the school population, and we are steadfast in our efforts to transform the lives of the next generation of Jamaican leaders” said Spencer.

Barnes lauded the Sandals team members for their decision to come to the assistance of the school and said she was looking forward to a continued long-term relationship.

“We have developed a great partnership with Sandals and other business enterprises which has assisted greatly in the improvements at our institutions,” said Barnes.

Jonique Bramwell, a member of Sandals’ entertainment department, said she was more than happy to donate her time to the mentorship effort as her growth had been fuelled by her own mentors.

“I am proud to be giving back to our country’s youth, particularly in Flanker, a community about which some people have a negative perception,” declared Bramwell.