ST. GEORGE, GRENADA, MARCH 18, 2016: On Wednesday, March 16, 2016, the Regional Beverage Alcohol Alliance (RBAA), in collaboration with its global partners and sponsors, Pernod Ricard and DIAGEO, donated laptops and projectors to the Samaritan Presbyterian, the Mt. Rose Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Primary and Concord Government primary schools.
The donation of equipment is part of a corporate social responsibility initiative, to address the problems of underage drinking and advancing healthy lifestyles, which is the focus of the Ask Listen Learn programme. This Programme was launched as a pilot, among three schools in Grenada, in April 2015. Dr. Patrick Antoine, Chairman of the Regional Beverage Alcohol Alliance, is coordinating the delivery of this programme, on behalf of partners throughout the region. Antoine had high praise for Grenadian teachers.
He said, “We have on video, records of the reactions of persons in other countries to the very sterling and powerful submission made by our teachers and I want to applaud, on record, the quality of our Grenadian teachers.”
The Ask, Listen, Learn programme is being be implemented as part of the Health and Family Education (HFLE) curriculum, in pilot schools. Its objectives are to enhance character development, instill life-skills development, prepare students to become engaged citizens and provide students with the knowledge, to not only promote healthy behaviours, but to contribute to success in school and beyond.
“I want to place on record the Ministry’s unwavering support for this initiative,” Maria Viechweg, Deputy Chief Education Officer (Curriculum), in the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, noted. She thanked the RBAA and the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (FAAR), for their contribution to the task of addressing underage drinking in Grenada and for the donation of equipment.
The equipment will facilitate the curriculum delivery and media interface of the Ask Listen Learn Programme.
Gordon Williams, Principal of Concord Government School (Ag.), said, “The laptop and the projector will be an asset to us, as we deliver the programme, simply because it brings the programme itself alive for the students, so we’re going to use it to show videos – to show clips.”
Hermoine Baptiste, HFLE Curriculum Officer, in the Ministry of Education & Human Resource Development, added that “The children can conduct live Google chats with their mentor, Kurt Felix, a Grenadian national, Pan-American and Commonwealth Games medallist.” Felix specializes in the decathlon.
Speaking about the equipment donated, Austin Lewis, a Grade 4 HFLE Teacher, at the Mt. Rose SDA Primary School, said, “It’s going to expose the children to a lot of hands-on and real life experiences.”
The RBAA chairman said the alliance intends to upscale the programme in Grenada, to reach other schools.
The Ask, Listen, Learn programme was developed by the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, which is headquartered in Washington.
