Beecher Town residents work to construct school computer lab

OCHO RIOS — Scores of residents turned out at the Beecher Town All-Age School in Ocho Rios to support work at the facility, which was selected as the St. Ann parish project for Labour Day 2011.

The scope of work, which involved the continuing construction of the school’s computer laboratory and cleaning up of the school yard, also saw the planting of fruit trees.

Project Manager and Counsellor for the Beecher Town Division, Ian Bell, told JIS News that he was pleased with the turnout of residents.

“I am very pleased to see the number of persons, who have turned out here today and I am going to be pushing them to see how much of the work we can get done. We are going to be trying our very best to see if we can get the decking up for this computer lab and we also want to see if we can do some amount of steel work on the building today as well,” Counsellor Bell said.

Focusing on the theme for Labour Day: ‘It Takes a Village to Raise a Child’, he stated that it was most applicable, hence the collaborative effort of the community members towards the work being carried out at the facility.

“Children are our heritage and there are many children living in Beecher Town and the adjoining communities and we want to ensure that the residents come out and support this project. At the end of the day, the children will be able to benefit and they will be able to obtain the level of education that we require for them,” Counsellor Bell said.

Beecher Town Resident, Winton Scott said that he was happy to be part of the support team. “This is our school and it is our area so we have to keep it going,” he told JIS News.

Provisional principal at the school, Lynell Brown-Jones, said that she too was pleased with the efforts of the parents and other community members.

She noted that the computer laboratory will not just serve the students at the school but children in the wider community as well.

By ALDEEN CAMPBELL, JIS Reporter