Wednesday 22nd June 2016 – Kingston, Jamaica: The excitement was palpable as the young players from the Norman Gardens Primary school, located in downtown Kingston, gathered to meet the coaches from Manchester City who shared words of encouragement with the players.
After training a selection of the region’s top players at the Digicel Kickstart Academy – the coaches visited the school’s football team to encourage them to continue doing their best and to keep focused on their dreams. In addition, Digicel, through its Foundation, surprised the boys with a donation of footballs that will help them during their training sessions.
The school is supported by the Digicel Jamaica Foundation through its Enrichment Programme which was introduced in 2009 to create an environment for learning through technology and individualised teacher instruction. The aim of the programme is to increase literacy rates to 85% by 2015 and bring Jamaica closer to the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of 100% literacy. The Programme equips teachers with cutting-edge software and innovative ICT that engages students in both audio and visual learning. Each school is provided with either an Enrichment Centre – a room dedicated to improving literacy and numeracy among students – or an Enrichment Cart – a mobile cart fully equipped with learning tools which can move from classroom to classroom.
Digicel Jamaica Foundation CEO, Samantha Chantrelle, said; “The Digicel Foundation is excited at the opportunity this Academy presents by adding sports a component of student development. This adds a new dynamic to the enriched learning experience for young men brimming with talent.”
The Norman Gardens Primary School Principal, Lexford Johnson said; “The players were extremely happy to meet the Manchester City coaches who encouraged them to be better. A big thank you to Digicel for their support and we are happy to have received the footballs from the Digicel Foundation which will go a long way towards helping the players improve.”