Going high-tech

The St. Leonard’s Boys Secondary School has received some much-needed equipment that will help it embrace more modern teaching methods rather than sticking to the traditional “chalk and talk” system.

Business Studies teacher at the school Regina Layne said all too often, teachers were not completing the syllabi in many of their subjects because these older teaching methods took up far too much time. Layne, who recently completed her Diploma in Education at the Erdiston Teacher Training College, said, “I think we do too much writing in exercise books, and we are hardly ever able to finish the syllabus in any subject. I do recognise that if we reduce the amount of writing students do, teachers will have to do more in terms of preparation, but once we do that, the children will accomplish more.”

Layne’s colleague, Shareba Griffith, agreed, saying the students were more receptive to the more technologically driven ways of teaching. “Since we started doing the lessons in this manner, the students have improved. They retain what they learn better, and they actually look forward to classes using the newer methods rather than the traditional ones.”

And this morning, as the 2019-2020 academic year began, the school received a flat-screen television and a projector from the C.O.Williams group of companies and the Eden Lodge Youth Charitable Trust, respectively.

Group Marketing Manager with the C.O. Williams group Sharon Carew-White stated that, “We got an email a couple of weeks ago from the school, and since we are all about innovation and new ways of learning, inspiring young people, especially young gentlemen, so when this school reached out, we could not say no.”

She added that this year, the company’s mandate was to work with young people in any way possible, and it had also reached out to the Nature Fun Ranch “to see how we can help the young men there who have just finished school in terms of offering financial assistance, skills training or job placements.”

Meanwhile, Jade Small and Ryle Stuart of the Eden Lodge Youth Charitable Trust, both of whom are former students of the school, saw their donation as a way of giving back to their school and the less fortunate in the community.

Newly appointed Principal, Stephen Scott, welcomed the donation and said his mission as he embarked on his new position was to “lead my staff and students so they can be the best they can be and to ensure we maintain good relationships between the school, the home and the community.” (DH)