Students Benefit from Exposure to Visual Arts – Lady Hall
By: , December 17, 2014The Key Point:
Photo: Contributed
Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) Senior Director, Commercial Development and Planning, Alfred McDonald (right), makes a presentation to Neil Graham of Corinaldi Avenue Primary School in St. James, for placing first in the five to nine age category of the AAJ’s inaugural Schools’ Art Project. Occasion was the award ceremony held on Friday (December 12), at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.The Facts
- She said they learn to develop creative and flexible forms of thinking and acquire mental habits that they are not taught in other classes including envisioning, innovating and reflecting.
- She was speaking at the awards ceremony for the Airports Authority of Jamaica’s (AAJ) inaugural Schools’ Art Project 2014 held on Friday (December 12), at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.
The Full Story
Lady Rheima Hall, wife of former Governor-General, His Excellency Professor Sir Kenneth Hall, is hailing the benefits to be derived from exposing students to the visual arts.
She said they learn to develop creative and flexible forms of thinking and acquire mental habits that they are not taught in other classes including envisioning, innovating and reflecting. “They (are able to) stimulate and release their imagination by envisioning a world that is different from the world they know. They are open to creating new worlds,” Lady Hall said.
She was speaking at the awards ceremony for the Airports Authority of Jamaica’s (AAJ) inaugural Schools’ Art Project 2014 held on Friday (December 12), at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.
Lady Hall, who is an accomplished artist, noted also that students, who produce art for public spaces feel more connected to the community and are more likely to develop as positive members of the society as adults. “Art allows them to develop a sense of civic engagement,” she pointed out.
Students from Corinaldi Avenue Primary in St. James; Genesis Academy, Kingston; Sydney Pagon STEM Academy, St. Elizabeth; and Manchester High School, Manchester, topped the various categories of the competition.
The winner in five to nine age group was nine-year Neil Graham of Corinaldi Avenue Primary. Rodane Harvey of Sydney Pagon STEM Academy emerged the winner of the 10-14 age category; and Briana Campbell of Manchester High School topped the 15-19 group. It was 17-year old Shadae Parchment of Genesis Academy, who copped the top prize in the special needs category for entrants 18 years and under.
The President’s Award for the school with the highest quality and quantity of submissions in each county went to Manchester High for Middlesex and Ardenne Preparatory and Extension school for Surrey. Special mention was made of Ardenne Prep for submitting the most entries of 30. There was no winner for Cornwall.
The work of the students will be displayed in the arrivals hall of the Norman Manley International Airport. They also received gifts from corporate sponsors Lime, Jet Blue and Caribbean Airlines.