Basic School in Rae Town Gets Facelift

The Salvation Army Rae Town Basic School, in Downtown Kingston, received a major face-lift today (May 25), as part of Labour Day activities undertaken by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC).

The school, which accommodates 75 children ranging from two to six years, saw volunteers from the UDC working alongside parents, community members and members of the security forces to carry out the clean-up operation. The day’s activities included painting of the classrooms and general clean-up of the premises.

Director of Corporate Communications at the UDC, Lorna Clarke, told JIS News that the school was selected by the UDC because of the many needs of the facility.

“Part of the UDC’s mandate is to lead the redevelopment of  Downtown (Kingston) and in keeping with the theme for Labour Day –  ‘Labour of Love: Nurturing Our Children’, we looked around in our project area to identify a project that we thought would speak to the national theme and would also speak to the UDC’s mandate. So, we identified the Rae Town Basic School,” she noted.

The school, which is located at 24 Tower Street, serves students from the communities of Rae Town, Tower Street, Fleet Street and Barry Street.

Outlining the scope of the Labour Day project, Ms. Clarke said “some of the classrooms needed a fresh coat of paint; in the play area, the swings and other items needed to be repainted; some bushing was required, and there is an adjoining lot as well so, we’re trying to clean that up.”

Principal of the school, Nicole Facey, is grateful for the assistance given by the UDC and the many volunteers who turned out in support of the project.

“The school has been here for approximately 30 years and we have never had a major (clean-up)  before,” she said.

One of the parents, Shada Rowe, who volunteered along with her son, who is a student of the school, is happy for the upgrading project.

“We (the parents) want to show that we care by helping to keep the school clean, especially the play field. That is where the children spend most of their play time for enjoyment, so we try to make it as fun as possible (for the children),” she said.

Deputy General Manager, Subsidiaries Management and Revenue Generation at the UDC, Robert Stephens, who was one of the volunteers, said the agency is working assiduously to put together projects and programmes for the development of the area.

“It is very important that we communicate and assist with the development of the community based facilities in the area. We want to make sure that the community is a participant in the things that we are doing,” he said.

“The future of the country is in the hands of our children and…we therefore need to ensure that the environs in which they learn, the places in which they go to school in particular, are well kept and clean for them to learn in,” he added.