Dinthill High alumni take care of their own
Published:Saturday | February 4, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Karen Sudu, Gleaner Writer
LINSTEAD, St Catherine:
DINTHILL TECHNICAL High School Alumni Association, Florida Chapter, has donated 155 tablet computers, armchairs, a printer, and cricket gear valued at approximately $2.5 million to the institution. The presentation was made recently at the school in Linstead, St Catherine.
"The chairs are really the modern seating arrangement for high school students. On a previous trip, we observed the need for a modern printer for the principal's office, and we have actually procured and handed over complete cricket gear including bat, ball, and pads," Clayton Todd, chapter president, told The Gleaner after handing over the gifts to principal, Dennis Clarke.
Over its 10-year existence, the group has established several programmes to satisfy the needs of the students as well as the wider community.
"We have the welfare, hospital, trust, and scholarship funds. The welfare fund takes care of students if they have any need, whether it's transportation, lunch, etc," reported Todd. From the hospital fund, we have donated quite a bit to Linstead Hospital. The trust fund gives to the school what we call major capital expenditure on a needs basis, and graduates benefit from the scholarship fund," he added.
Todd disclosed that unlike previous years when scholarship awardees were selected by the school, starting this year, selection would be done by the alumni.
"Students will apply to us directly for the scholarship, and we may decide to give a scholarship for students who want to pursue higher education in finance, medicine, and so on. Based on their qualifications, they will apply to us online through our website. We will review applications and award the scholarships accordingly," Todd detailed.
Increase in beneficiaries
The changes, said Todd, would bring about an increase in the number of beneficiaries as well as donors.
"Let's say you are a past student and you are a doctor and you want to give a scholarship in medicine. You would donate a scholarship funded in your name through the association. This way, we will be able to broaden the number of scholarships that we give. Right now, we give an average of three for the year. We are looking to at least triple this number in 2012," he added.
He indicated that guidelines and application forms would be posted in the near future on the association's website www.dinthillfloridaalumni.com and interested persons could apply in March.
And even as the group upgrades and restructures existing pro-grammes, it has embarked on a long-term project estimated to cost $12 million.
"We intend to make the auditorium a First-World fa-cility. When we are finished, we will be the only auditorium of this quality within a 20-mile radius. We are hoping that it will seat about 600," said Todd.
In addition to small-scale fund-raisers, the association solicits money for its programmes through the staging of an annual activity. This year's event will be held at the Coral Springs Marriott Hotel, Heron's Bay, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday, March 3.
"This year, it's our 10th anniversary dinner dance. We call it our Spring Ball. We are having Oliver Samuels, a past student, as one of our honourees and our MC. We are having the Bare Essentials Band and for dinner music we will have Sons of Maestro, who are of Jamaican parentage," he said.