SLB Staff Read to Students At Port Royal Primary

The Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) staff journeyed to Port Royal Primary School in Kingston on Tuesday (May 5) for a day of fun and learning in observance of Read Across Jamaica Day.

Team members, led by Executive Director, Nickeisha Walsh, and Board Chairman, Steven Gooden, read to students from age-appropriate material designed to enhance literacy, comprehension, listening and critical-thinking skills.

For the younger children, the team shared classic nursery rhymes from ‘Mother Goose and Friends’ by Ruth Sanderson, while older students were exposed to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-related content in ‘The Eggs are Stuck… Call the Engineer’ and ‘Irly Bird Meets a Robot Builder’ by E. Warren Davis.

The students were active participants in the reading sessions, eagerly responding to questions about the stories and characters, which created a lively atmosphere that encouraged learning and expression.

Speaking with JIS News, Marketing and Outreach Manager at the SLB, Evette Clarke-Hendricks, said that the visit was in keeping with the Bureau’s corporate social responsibility and, more specifically, its adopt-a-school initiative.

She noted that the SLB adopted the small community school three years ago, and has been supporting the institution in several ways, including through regular visits.

“We love… that it is a community-based school; 98 per cent of students are from the area,” she said.

Over the three years, the SLB has renovated the classrooms and the school’s library. The Bureau has also outfitted the school’s kitchen with a new fridge, freezer, stove and other necessities, and stages a back-to-school fun day and treat at the school every August.

Principal of Port Royal Primary School, Nicola Jones, welcomed the visit by the SLB team.

“I am excited. The students are excited,” she told JIS News.

“It’s always a pleasure working with the Students’ Loan Bureau. They have done a lot for us, not just financially but through time spent. We have never asked the Students’ Loan Bureau and they have not given it to us,” she said.

Miss Jones informed that last year, the SLB introduced the ‘Award of Triumph’ to benefit a student who has overcome adversity.

“That award was given to a student who has challenges in terms of lunch and parental support, and that student cried after collecting his trophy last year. It’s also not just about need but the guidance and support given while they are here,” she pointed out.

Celebrated annually during Education Week, Read Across Jamaica Day seeks to help advance literacy and a love of reading in children.

This year’s theme was ‘Literacy Resilience: Foundation of Nation-Building’.