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Bolt, Anderson make grand donations to alma mater
published: Saturday | November 1, 2008
Photo by Denise Reid
From left: Chairman of the board of William Knibb Memorial High School, Everton Jackson, triple world record holder Usain Bolt and World Championships silver medallist Marvin Anderson, walk at the school grounds during a visit by the athletes to the school on Wednesday.
Denise Reid, Staff Reporter
Triple Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Usain Bolt, and Jamaican track team member Marvin Anderson, made a grand entrance and even grander presentations to the schools which helped to mould them on their journey to stardom.
There was great excitement among members of the student body from William Knibb Memorial High (Knibb), Waldensia Primary, Duncans All-Age and Westwood High schools when the track athletes alighted from a helicopter on the playing field of William Knibb on Wednesday morning.
After being honoured through poetry, song and dance with pieces such as Krystle Kerr's 'Tribute to the Trelawny Titans' and Waldensia Primary's original tribute to Bolt in which students sang and deejayed - whipping the crowd into a frenzy - the athletes made a few presentations of their own.
Both Bolt and Anderson encouraged children to take school seriously. Anderson stressed the importance of [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]education[/COLOR][/COLOR], stating that along with talent and intelligence, it is pertinent to one's development.
"Even if you're not talented, it's ok to be a fireman, it's ok to [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]be [COLOR=orange! important]a [/COLOR][COLOR=orange! important]teacher[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], it's ok to be a policeman," he added.
Through corporate sponsorship, the pair made many donations to their past schools.
Bolt donated a refrigerator to Waldensia Primary, courtesy of Courts. The school was previously without one. In addition, the self-proclaimed 'cricket lover' also donated [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]cricket[/COLOR][/COLOR] gear to the school to help in sports [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]training[/COLOR][/COLOR], while Anderson donated three computers and a [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]printer[/COLOR][/COLOR] to Duncans All-Age.
Much to be grateful for
With 10 new computers, courtesy of Scotiabank, students at William Knibb have much to be grateful for, and the track team, which increased from 35 to 70 students this school year, has been given a boost which will hopefully lead to greatness, with a myriad of donations.
The team was given 60 Reebok caps, bags, shirts and watches, courtesy of Reebok, Anderson's sponsor. Additionally, they received gym equipment (which was handed over previously by Bolt), 50 pairs of track shoes and $100,000 worth of food and drinks each term from National Meats.
"We just decided that we need to do something for our school," said Bolt, explaining the motivation behind the initiative. The Olympic champion said when the opportunity presents itself, he plans to mentor and support students at the school as much as possible. He said this is not something that is exclusive to William Knibb, but he seeks to give support to other schools as well.
Anderson shared similar sentiments with The Gleaner, explaining: "William Knibb is very dear to Usain and myself, we are blessed in a way to get certain opportunities, and we want to share it with the school so that other kids here can have the resources to use and excel as well."
William Knibb's principal, Diana Wynter, expressed much joy for the contributions the school received.
"I am very excited, especially for the track team, and hope that the children will really put it to good use because to whom much is given, much is expected." She said the athletes' involvement is already showing positive results as formerly, after each internal track meet, coaches had to beg students to train and attend outside meets, but now the track team has increased.
published: Saturday | November 1, 2008
Photo by Denise Reid
From left: Chairman of the board of William Knibb Memorial High School, Everton Jackson, triple world record holder Usain Bolt and World Championships silver medallist Marvin Anderson, walk at the school grounds during a visit by the athletes to the school on Wednesday.
Denise Reid, Staff Reporter
Triple Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Usain Bolt, and Jamaican track team member Marvin Anderson, made a grand entrance and even grander presentations to the schools which helped to mould them on their journey to stardom.
There was great excitement among members of the student body from William Knibb Memorial High (Knibb), Waldensia Primary, Duncans All-Age and Westwood High schools when the track athletes alighted from a helicopter on the playing field of William Knibb on Wednesday morning.
After being honoured through poetry, song and dance with pieces such as Krystle Kerr's 'Tribute to the Trelawny Titans' and Waldensia Primary's original tribute to Bolt in which students sang and deejayed - whipping the crowd into a frenzy - the athletes made a few presentations of their own.
Both Bolt and Anderson encouraged children to take school seriously. Anderson stressed the importance of [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]education[/COLOR][/COLOR], stating that along with talent and intelligence, it is pertinent to one's development.
"Even if you're not talented, it's ok to be a fireman, it's ok to [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]be [COLOR=orange! important]a [/COLOR][COLOR=orange! important]teacher[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], it's ok to be a policeman," he added.
Through corporate sponsorship, the pair made many donations to their past schools.
Bolt donated a refrigerator to Waldensia Primary, courtesy of Courts. The school was previously without one. In addition, the self-proclaimed 'cricket lover' also donated [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]cricket[/COLOR][/COLOR] gear to the school to help in sports [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]training[/COLOR][/COLOR], while Anderson donated three computers and a [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]printer[/COLOR][/COLOR] to Duncans All-Age.
Much to be grateful for
With 10 new computers, courtesy of Scotiabank, students at William Knibb have much to be grateful for, and the track team, which increased from 35 to 70 students this school year, has been given a boost which will hopefully lead to greatness, with a myriad of donations.
The team was given 60 Reebok caps, bags, shirts and watches, courtesy of Reebok, Anderson's sponsor. Additionally, they received gym equipment (which was handed over previously by Bolt), 50 pairs of track shoes and $100,000 worth of food and drinks each term from National Meats.
"We just decided that we need to do something for our school," said Bolt, explaining the motivation behind the initiative. The Olympic champion said when the opportunity presents itself, he plans to mentor and support students at the school as much as possible. He said this is not something that is exclusive to William Knibb, but he seeks to give support to other schools as well.
Anderson shared similar sentiments with The Gleaner, explaining: "William Knibb is very dear to Usain and myself, we are blessed in a way to get certain opportunities, and we want to share it with the school so that other kids here can have the resources to use and excel as well."
William Knibb's principal, Diana Wynter, expressed much joy for the contributions the school received.
"I am very excited, especially for the track team, and hope that the children will really put it to good use because to whom much is given, much is expected." She said the athletes' involvement is already showing positive results as formerly, after each internal track meet, coaches had to beg students to train and attend outside meets, but now the track team has increased.