#Providenciales, September 9, 2019 – Turks and Caicos – One little girl gazed lovingly at the handful of new school text books presented to her by the Soroptimist’s International Club of Providenciales; her reaction is the ultimate reward for a gesture which supports education and remembers the value of books and reading.
“As we celebrate International Literacy Day that
was celebrated on September 8, but because it fell on a weekend, we decided to
come here today – Monday – to donate text books to nine students from two government
primary schools. The Oseta Jolly Primary
School of which we always partner, the Ianthe Pratt Primary School and this
year, we decided to partner with Shining Stars,” said Rachel Taylor, Program
Action for Soroptimist International of Providenciales.
Mrs. Taylor reminded that literacy is a human right
and informed that Soroptimist has a three-pronged commitment: “To Educate,
Enable and Empower.”
All text books for the nine students were purchased
to support learning for the entire 2019-2020 academic year and the Soroptimists
had help, very generous help from Peta-gay Blake-Thomas of NAGICO Insurance
company; yearly sponsors and contributor to the mentorship program of the club.
“We know that text books are extremely expensive,
so we want to say thank you to our corporate sponsor NAGICO Insurance who
donated a large sum of money toward this project.”
The presentation, made today at the Oseta Jolly
Primary School was to beaming students of OJPS, Ianthe Pratt and Shining Stars
Preparatory; the children were selected for the assistance with the support of
school guidance counsellors.
Barbard Smith-Handfield, Soroptimist Providenciales
president believes having the books enable the children to focus on doing well
at school.
“It is our pleasure to present you with these
books. We know that education is a priority and we would like to see all of you
succeed,” said President of the club,
Barbara Smith-Henfield, “So we are happy to give these books to you on your
journey as you learn and as you apply these values.”
The students will no longer have to find some $200,
which is the cost for all of the text books.
A robust thank you was delivered to NAGICO and a plea for more support
came from Blythe Clare, Membership Officer: “Kindly give us a call so that we
can help other children. We are an NGO
and we rely basically on sponsorship and fundraising. We are only able to help nine children; it
would be great if we could round it off to a dozen (children). Come on board with the Soroptimist; we are
here to education, enable and empower our young people because you are the
future of the Turks and Caicos Islands.”
The young students were encouraged to take care of
their books, pay attention in classes and to make the TCI proud.
“I want to say thanks to the Soroptimist for this
wonderful opportunity, said Dave Morgan, Principal of Shining Stars Preparatory,
who spoke on behalf of the schools, “I guarantee that the students will make
good use of the books, the parents will be happy to have them and that at the
end of the year, they are going to be really, really successful. Thank you and
continue to do this great job.”
Students also expressed gratitude for the text books.
#magneticmedianews
#internationalliteracyday