Campers at JASY Summer Camp
Msgr. Richard Albert, Founder St. Patrick’s Foundation
“The children who have attended the JASY camps truly appreciate the experience as the activities have an uplifting effect on their lives physically, emotionally and spiritually. Some of the youth have begun to see life from a different perspective, not just poverty; and besides putting a smile on their faces it has given them a chance to use their God-given talents.
One of the major problems in Jamaica is that there is a lack of hope that anything will get better and JASY offers these young people a spirit of hope and love”
Ms. Dougherty in centre with fellow teachers
Ms. Melecia Dougherty, TEACH English Teacher
(Head of English Dept, Mile Gully High school)
“The successes of the programme included financial and nutritional support given to students, availability of resource material, the first-hand experience of having a foreign teacher, timetabling review sessions and incorporating motivational speakers to speak to students.
This is a true investment to our society. Students are being equipped with skills needed to ensure productive futures and so this programme scores a 10 out of 10 and is deserving to be recommended to any other school that has a vested interest in our nation’s children.”
TEACH English
Ms. Helen Baxendale, TEACH English teacher, Australian Rhodes Scholar
“The greatest strength of the TEACH Caribbean program is the impact it appears to be making on the students English and Mathematics abilities and their enthusiasm and engagement with school. I really believe that the program was an inflection point for some of the students and that with continued support and hard work they will do far better than they would have done without the programme. A further strength was the level of administrative oversight and support from the Programme Manager. Nicole did an excellent job in ensuring that we had the resources we needed and maintained registers and records of grades and attendance very meticulously. A final strength is the mix of local and international teaching staff.
I think this is vital. While the international teachers are a bit ‘exotic’ and excite the curiosity of the students, the local knowledge and contextual understanding of the Jamaican teachers is indispensable. We were also especially fortunate to have Eva who really went above and beyond to be hospitable to Raag and me and introduce us to the Jamaican culture.”