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Digicel Foundation hands over renovated Science Labs Kingston, Jamaica – 02 October 2009: With collaboration from The Excelsior Past Students Association (EPSA), the Digicel Foundation is proud to hand over the newly renovated Science Lab Block at Excelsior High School. With approximately $8 million, has redesigned and renovated two (2) Physics labs and two (2) Chemistry labs, to meet the modernized standards for laboratories. “We are so proud of this project because this partnership speaks to the arduous work of The Excelsior Past Students Association, in their quest to give back to their school in a tangible way. Not only did The Association approach us with the proposal to renovate the Science Lab Block at Excelsior High but they also brought to the table, their expertise and experience to facilitate the smooth sailing of the project,” explained Eleen Rankine, Administrator of Digicel Foundation. The school’s 52-year-old Science laboratories were contained in a sound structure, but were rendered obsolete because of years of wear-and-tear on the equipment, fixtures and fittings. Inadequate funding to repair and or replace these equipments and a burgeoning school population negatively affected the students’ laboratory experience and prevented them from mastering the Science Subjects.
“The labs, that previously existed, were not suitable for the requisite level of scientific activities, therefore The Excelsior Past Students Association sought to upgrade them, to create a more conducive environment for learning,” explained Mr. Christopher Honeywell, President of The Excelsior Past Students Association. “We approached the Digicel Foundation for this project as we wanted to partner with an organization that exhibited much interest in the educational development of our youth and was also aware of the current structural challenges that students face today,” he also explained. Now that the laboratories have been renovated which was phase 1 of our project, the next step for The EPSA is to seek funds for the full re-equipping of the labs. “We are now seeking to raise more funds. and hope that the other past students and organizations like Digicel Foundation, will come onboard to assist us in completing this project’s final phase of re-equipping the labs to the tune of $2 million,” explained Mr. Honeywell. “All this hard work and commitment will prove not only useful and valuable to the student/teacher population at the school now, but also in the years to come. We are working to cultivate their curiosity in a productive manner as well as teach them skills they can apply to their everyday lives to solve problems, and logically assess issues they may encounter,” added Mr. Honeywell.
