APPROXIMATELY 300 students recently benefited from a two-week SuperKids literacy improvement programme made possible by Sandals Foundation and its partnership with the United States-based non-profit, Great Shape! Inc.

More than 70 volunteers out of the United States, Canada, and Jamaica executed a specialised curriculum in Westmoreland and St Elizabeth, engaging grades two to five students at Brompton Primary, New Hope Primary, and Savanna-la-Mar Primary schools.

This is the third of a three-year programme at these schools which engages students in targeted small-group classes that focus on phonics, fluency, and reading comprehension.

With programme success measured based on a pre- and post-assessment, educators at all three schools have reported improvement in students’ literacy.

“The literacy team’s engagement has helped to engender a love for reading among our students. The computers donated with the literacy and numeracy applications installed ensure that there is continuity in accessing online learning materials for our students,” said New Hope Primary School Principal Erica Cooke-Murdock.

“In addition, the cupboards that were made encouraged teachers to create their literacy and numeracy centres in their classrooms, and these centres also include some of the books donated by the SuperKids team,” she added.

While the SuperKids team carried out their literacy workshops, the Great Shape! Inc information technology team of volunteers spent their two weeks on the island repairing, managing, and building computer labs in Hanover, Westmoreland and St Elizabeth.

Approximately 275 desktops and laptops were deployed to local schools, and another 30 computer labs repaired.

Additionally, in what the team calls a lab drop, students at Frome Technical High School witnessed the conversion of their lab — which had zero computers — being transformed to a fully functional operational space with the provision of 45 computers, monitors and assorted peripherals.

“A lab drop is one of my favourite things to do in this world. It makes such a difference. We come in and turn an ordinary room into a magical place for computer learning,” said Great Shape! Inc team leader Brad Adams.

Leading projects in Jamaica since 1988, Great Shape! Inc’s co-founder Georgene Crowe expressed her continued support for the work and partnerships.

“These projects continue to amaze me. The volunteers blossom, right along with the students. We are successful because Sandals believes and supports our work, and the volunteers are full of passion for the students,” said Crowe.

Overall, the team’s work in Westmoreland and St Elizabeth saw 1,400 students benefiting from literacy workshops; 275 computers donated and installed; classes in computer skills, art, music and sports; 115 school shoes and school supplies donated; and New Hope Primary getting a well-needed facelift with a paint job done by the team, along with seven bookshelves.

Great Shape! Inc was launched in Jamaica in 1988 and leads several projects in collaboration with Sandals Foundation, with the SuperKids team working to increase literacy in Jamaican schools since 2003.

In addition to the SuperKids literacy project, Sandals Foundation aids in hosting the 1000 Smiles dental project, Teach the Teachers (professional development for educators), and iCARE vision clinics.