Sagicor makes donation to Irving Wilson School

Learning doesn’t only take place in the classroom, and Sagicor is doing its part to ensure that students at the Irving Wilson School are exposed to as many varied learning opportunities as possible.

The leading insurance and financial institution recently donated a weed trimmer to the school, to assist with the upkeep of its garden located on the premises of the Pine Plantation Road, St. Michael institution.

Earlier this year, the school, which caters to autistic, visually and hearing-impaired youth, embarked on the onsite gardening programme, including it as part of its extra-curricular activities aimed at exposing the students to skills and knowledge that they can incorporate into their daily lives, as well as equipping them to provide for themselves in the future.

“We started the programme as a way to teach the students about agriculture, as well as the business elements that go along with it, with the intention to sell some of the produce to earn money for the school.

“It was also seen as a clever and educational way to help further develop their motor skills”, said teacher, Juna Wiltshire.

“The long-term goal of the project is to give students the skills to earn a living for themselves or have the ability to be able to sustain themselves after they’ve left school.”

In keeping with the latter, gardening sparked the interest of one particular student, Chem Wilkinson, who has expressed an interest in landscaping.

The donation of the weed trimmer, therefore, gives him the opportunity to explore his interest further, by assisting with keeping the garden well-manicured.

Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sagicor Life Inc, Paul Inniss, said the company’s support of the gardening programme is in keeping with Sagicor’s vision to improve the lives of those in the communities in which it operates, noting that this can be done in several ways.

“When we think of education, focus is usually placed on traditional academia, however, valuable skills can be developed in many other areas like agriculture, and we believe that it is important that our youth are given the chance to be exposed to these opportunities.”

This donation is one of several made this year by the company as part of its 180 Acts of Kindness initiative, a programme undertaken in recognition of the company’s 180 years of operations in the Caribbean. (PR)