Morant Bay High School gets $850,000 NCB Foundation gift

The 1,276 students and dedicated staff members at Morant Bay High School got a huge surprise over the recent holidays with a gift from the NCB Foundation’s Grant A Wish programme. The institution received a donation of $850,000, which will further its initiatives planned for this year.

Morant Bay High School opened its doors in January 1961 with 62 students, and was the first high school in St Thomas. As the school enters its 60th year, it recognises and celebrates its many accolades and the many excellent students that have passed through its doors, including Olympians Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn and Hansle Parchment, and journalist Dionne Jackson Miller.

Over the years, the school has excelled in sports, dance, art, drama and speech, while ensuring that its students are playing their role in their communities by spearheading and participating in numerous outreach programmes. Their presence is not only felt in their immediate communities, but also across the world due to numerous alumni living in the diaspora who continue to support and enrich their alma mater; a testament to the excellent work being done at the school.

All these achievements, unfortunately, have not come without numerous challenges over the years, which have now been magnified by the current COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our immediate vision right now speaks to how we can ensure we are maximising our current situation, given the COVID-19 pandemic. Our entire school body has been affected. None of us were prepared for the challenges this pandemic has brought,” Acting Principal Marsha Ford-Bryan lamented.

Her first job out of university landed in the post of teacher of sociology and social studies at the high school and she has since climbed the ranks, serving as classroom teacher, subject teacher, year coordinator, cultural and sport department member, and now acting principal. She has seen the school transform over the last 20 years, despite the challenges.

“What we struggle with is that we are located in a rural area, and based on circumstances and limitations, we often find that students are losing out when you compare them to those in the urban areas. Regardless, we always try our very best to make sure that our students don’t feel left out and aren’t treated any less than they deserve,” Ford-Bryan noted.

As it stands, the school’s greatest needs are technology infrastructure, human resource development and training and motivation for the students. Due to location and financial constraints, the school suffers tremendous challenges with technology - competency of students, staff and parents, and accessibility - which limits the effective teaching-learning process, as well as infrastructural difficulties at the school and in the parish with regard to lack of Internet connectivity and data bandwidth, which affects access and participation in classes.

Thanking the NCB Foundation, Ford-Bryan said the donation will be put towards helping to advance the school’s online learning.

“The gift that we have received from the NCB Foundation is, in fact, a beautiful start that we will be using and capitalising on in order to make our dreams come true,” Ford-Bryan shared.

INFRASTRUCTURAL NEEDS

The funds will be put towards their effort to procure tablets and laptops and addressing the infrastructural needs in order to be able to expand bandwidth and ensure stable and secure Internet connectivity at the school. The use of technology is here to stay, so the administration plans to do all they can to fortify that area in order to ensure the students and staff are ready, and that this year meets them prepared for the task at hand.

“We will actually have something to go to our alumni and other stakeholders to let them know that we have a start. We are hopeful that this will strengthen the partnerships and help us to take the school to the next level. I can’t say enough how grateful we are as an institution. It came at a pivotal time. We are able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, knowing that this is a solid beginning for us!” the principal said.

Morant Bay High School received the award in the category of organisations in need.