Labour Day brings new look for Crescent Basic School

May 25, 2011

Dr Andrew Wheatley (right), chairman, St Catherine Parish Council, squares up the
kitchen cupboard at Crescent Basic School to install a new surface.
Looking on are Donna Boothe, principal, and Floyd Williams,
 Flow's senior customer-service agent. 

CRESCENT BASIC School in Spanish Town, St Catherine, established in 1951, received a much-needed facelift on Labour Day.

Scores of volunteers from various community-based and other organisations gathered at the institution, one of this year's 14 national/parish projects. The scope of work carried out on the facility, relocated to its present site, Lot 21 Angel's Inn Drive in 1969, included refurbishing of the kitchen and bathrooms, painting of the ceiling in classrooms and the principal's office, and correction of electrical faults.

Dr Andrew Wheatley, chairman, St Catherine Parish Council, said the school was selected in keeping with this year's Labour Day theme - 'It takes a Village to Raise a Child'.

"The council as one of the lead agencies in the parish recognises the importance of ensuring that we provide for our youths, and through this infrastructural work we are doing here, I believe that it will lay the foundation for the children to learn in a more comfortable atmosphere," Wheatley told The Gleaner.

funding for project

Together with the Labour Day Secretariat, which contributed $100,000 and Flow's donation of $50,000, the council funded the project, which cost approximately $300,000.

According to Floyd Williams, Flow's senior customer-service agent, his company's contribution is in keeping with its corporate social responsibility.

It was an elated Donna Boothe, teacher at the institution for more than 30 years and principal since 2005 who, along with other staff members, witnessed the refit.

"We are here for a long time and we have been waiting for something special to happen, and I am really thankful to all those who are participating here today and especially to those who provide the funds to undertake the work. I feel like we are finally back on the map," a smiling Boothe told The Gleaner.

Equally thankful for the work carried out on the institution, which houses 97 students, was Debbian Thomas, a parent.

"It's a good thing that the school is getting a facelift. I also hope that the relevant persons will now fix the road that leads off the main road to the school because it's in a really bad condition," said Thomas.