Windsor School of Special Education gets Labour Day facelift

The Windsor School of Special Education was treated to a full rollout of renovation and beautification exercises on Labour Day. The community also received a free mobile health clinic.

The initiative was spearheaded by the NCU Media Group in collaboration with the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists’ Youth Ministries Department, as part of the ninth staging of NCU FM’s Acts of Kindness School Tour.

The welcome facelift was in line with this year’s theme for National Labour Day: ‘Ramp Up the Access … Show that you care’, which focused on making public spaces more accessible for the vulnerable and persons with disabilities.

Patricia Grant, manager of special events and projects at the NCU Media Group, says the project choice, though not deliberate, was by divine design.

“...We didn’t even know the theme for this year at the time when the school was chosen. It was a coincidence. It’s all a part of God’s plan, ” she said.

“This Labour Day project is a pilot project. The Windsor School wanted to be a part of our Acts of Kindness Tour, but based on what happens on the tour ... many students would not be able to participate. But we still wanted them to feel like a part of it and so we took the Labour Day project here.”

Several volunteers, including teachers and students from the school, painted the institution’s general assembly point, renovated the bathrooms’ plumbing, updated signs and posters, and engaged in general clean-up activities, including the positioning of garbage drums around the property.

Kimela Jarrett-Johnstone, principal of The Windsor School of Special Education, expressed her gratitude, noting the significance of the gesture: “We serve a special population. These are some students … what seems minor to you can really throw them off. So it is important that these students will see an environment immaculate [and] conducive to learning. ”

Pastor Dane Fletcher, Youth Ministries director of the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, said the volunteers were eager to be a part of the initiative.

“Our young people are always excited to be involved and so it was an easy decision to be a part of this initiative considering that it’s a part of our strategic objectives to make a positive impact in the community.”

Arnold Kelly, general manager of the NCU Media Group, expressed his appreciation for institutions like the Windsor School. “When you look at the school and the work it’s doing for persons who are differently abled, then you realise that it’s something that you want to be a part of,” he said.

The month-long Act of Kindness series ends on Friday with the NCU Media Group’s visit to the Clan Carthy primary and high schools in Kingston.