Farm Primary and Junior High School gets library upgrade
Published:Saturday | July 26, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Barrington Flemming, Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:Victor Newsome, principal of the Farm Primary and Junior High School, says the upgrading of the school's library, by the Texas-based Teaching with Jamaica Group, will serve to boost the institution's literacy programme.
Newsome was speaking at the Library Dedication and Celebration ceremony, held at the school recently, under the theme: 'Reading is the Key to Success'.
"I see this as an opportunity to move the school forward as it relates to literacy and accessing information. Our students in this community have limited access to resources and having a library will give them a greater opportunity to obtain information that they need to learn," said Newsome.
He said the new initiative is aimed at creating a successful school in the near future and having such a well-equipped library will give the administration and staff an opportunity to achieve that objective earlier than projected.
GSAT performance
"Our GSAT performance has improved by six per cent over last year. Majority of the students who sat the test got their school of choice or second choice. Now, with added resources and the calibre of students that we have, we are looking for a 10 per cent increase for the next academic year," Newsome added.
Patti Gilbert, team leader of the Teaching with Jamaica Group, said they were motivated to assist with upgrading the library due to Newsome's passion for education and the fact that reading was vital to the students' success at the school.
"God blessed us with two librarians, and they requested dimensions for the library and based on the expertise of the group's librarians we were told that we would need 3,000 books. We however collected more than 6,000 books and here we are with this wonderful library," said Gilbert.
Pastor David Falconer of Jamaica Link Ministries, which facilitated the partnership between Teaching with Jamaica and the Farm Primary and Junior High School, said he was happy that the change makers were able to have a positive impact on the school.