Yallahs Primary honours grandparents

Joylyn Bryan, Gleaner Writer

YALLAHS, St Thomas:THE GRANDPARENTS of students of the Yallahs Primary School were lavished with praise at a dinner put on in their honour at the school. Held on March 28, the occasion was made possible by the hard work of the school's guidance department and students. It aimed to honour the grandparents for their continued service to children and to the country at large.

The grandparents, predominantly grandmothers, were escorted to their seats and pinned with roses before being served.

Guest speaker Patricia Salmon, guidance education officer at the Ministry of Education, congratulated the grandparents on successfully raising their first generation of children and exhorted them to continue passing on good values to the second. She spoke of the continued relevance of traditions in a changing world.

"The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world," said Salmon. "Try to get involved in a child's life because all of the children of Jamaica are ours. Be good role models, even though you didn't ask to be one."

She added that even though methods of raising children had changed, the need to raise children with manners and values had not. In closing, Salmon serenaded the grandparents with the song Not the I, but the You in Me.

The programme was two-pronged as it was a major part of the guidance department's implementation of a community-service programme aimed at inculcating the students of Yallahs Primary School with a spirit of volunteerism and civic responsibility. A. Tucker gave an overview of the aim of the programme, stating that "volunteerism is needed in this society. We want to get back to the days where people give of themselves freely. Today, we are going to allow them (our students) to serve".

entertainment

And serve they did as the students were the main waiters and waitresses for the dinner and also provided the entertainment, with the YPS Chorale Speaking Group performing Pamela Mordecai's Easter poem from Subversive Sonnets and Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou. Tucker disclosed that the community service programme would continue with a visit to a children's home.

Principal M. George, a grandparent herself, commended the guidance department, led by guidance counsellors A. Tucker and C. Copeland. The guest speaker also presented both of them with a certificate of recognition for the successful development and implementation of the novel guidance programme.

The night closed with an added treat, with students presenting packages of Easter bun and cheese to the grandparents.