Genesis Academy Students Benefiting from Sports and Music Programmes

A Kingston-based special needs institution has invested in music and sporting programmes to advance its students.

Genesis Academy was founded in 2003 by Pauline Beaumont, the mother of a dyslexic child and a visionary who saw the need for an institution where special needs students could transition and access world-class resources for learning.

The Academy’s Principal, Stacey-Ann Newman, a staunch advocate of the school’s extracurricular programmes, strongly believes that the special needs community has much to offer.

“We encourage our students to apply themselves diligently. We want to provide a Godly, stimulating environment, and we do that. We also want our students to acquire the skills because they have special needs… because they are indeed special… so they have a lot to offer,” she tells JIS News.

The institution, which caters to over 100 students with physical and intellectual disabilities, was the recipient of over 21 medals and ribbons at Special Olympics Jamaica’s National Games, held at the National Stadium in Kingston on May 19 and 20.

Events for which the youngsters copped medals included the 100-metre, 300-metre, 4×100-metre relay, bocce, softball throw, and tennis ball throw.

Head Coach, Wayne Roberts, tells JIS News that the competition served to develop his students’ resilience.

“This is the very first time that the children have really stepped up and really shown this much heart to garner so many medals,” he says.

Among other sports practised at the institution is floorball, a form of floor hockey that Coach Roberts states is very new to Jamaica and the special needs community.

He indicates that he and a colleague were instrumental in introducing the sport, adding that Genesis Academy has “been at the forefront in pushing floorball, and the children have really responded to it greatly”.

The school also has plans to introduce additional sports to their existing slate comprising flag football, table tennis, volleyball, football, kayaking, and aquatic activities. Among these are surfing, chess, go-karting, and boxing.

“At Genesis [Academy] we don’t limit ourselves. We really reach out and try to give our children the best. So that is basically what the athletics programme is about at Genesis Academy,” Coach Roberts emphasises.

Special Olympics Jamaica has provided year-round training and athletic competitions in a variety of sports for children and adults with intellectual and physical disabilities.

Through sports, the organisation is developing skills and increasing the confidence of the special needs community.

National Director of Special Olympics Jamaica, Coleridge Howell, says the organisation’s mission is to provide opportunities for children with special needs so “they are not left behind for any reason or cause”.

The return of the National Games after a two-year suspension due to COVID-19, he adds, was an “exciting moment for the athletes to be back together in a family setting, and to expose their talents in the various sports”.

Mr. Howell is hopeful that the special needs community in Jamaica will grow.

“[We have] to ensure that we go in every community, every school and give these children an opportunity, because they do have the capabilities [and] they are trainable people. All they need is an opportunity in society and to be heard and to be seen,” he adds.

In addition to sports, Genesis Academy boasts a rich music programme and was recently awarded Gold and Silver Medals in the drumming category of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Music Competition.

Music teacher at the school, Richard Williams, believes the programme is of immense benefit to the students, “depending on their abilities, challenges, and different needs”, while adding that it is shaping their lives positively.

“We have students who benefit from the music [programme], in that they develop the skills as musicians that they use out there [in the wider society],” Mr. Williams says.

The institution is equipped with a sensory room, a computer lab with air-conditioning unit, bathrooms with wheelchair access, and other facilities, and continues to seek partnerships to improve its amenities and programmes for the benefit of the students.