Great Shape! Inc.

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Thanks to our U.S. interns for all their hard work; Julia, Nicole, Erin, & Vawn. You are making a difference!

Projects

GREAT SHAPE! SuperKids
Great Shape! Inc. expanded its literacy-empowerment program in the fall of 2008. Volunteers partnered with several schools; implementing curriculum to improve programs in literacy, computers, art, music and sports.

Great Shape! SuperKids is the evolution of our Book in a Bag project. In 2006 Great Shape! partnered with First Book (based on the East Coast) to get books into the hands of Jamaican children. We first supplied 5,000 books to Jamaican schools and created the lending program. Students fill their bag with books, take them home, bring them back and trade for others. At the pilot school in Grange Hill, the excitement about reading has already improved ten-fold, including reading contests and performances.

In the schools that team up with Great Shape! Inc. six out of ten children do NOT read at a basic level. Plus, Jamaica does not have a printing industry; all books are imported onto the Island. This makes books expensive and rare.

Great Shape! SuperKids will use several programs to continue improving the reading levels of Jamaica's children. We partner with the Jamaican Ministry of Education and Sandals Resorts International.

AS SIMPLE AS A UNIFORM
In Jamaica, not all children go to school because their families can’t afford the uniforms. All children are required to wear uniforms to school to keep students looking like they come from a level playing field. Some schools are less strict than others, some don’t require shoes, and some allow students to study without uniforms. These uniforms cost between $10 and $15 each. In 2006 Great Shape! Inc. volunteers started a pilot project to grant uniforms. The project arose in a matter of minutes after dental volunteers realized children weren’t learning to read because they couldn’t afford to follow the dress code. Volunteers took up a collection at the breakfast table and provided 50 uniforms right then. Now, Great Shape! Inc. provides hundreds of uniforms for students.

ELBOW ROOM & MIND EXPANSION
Students in Logwood finally have space to learn. In 2002, Great Shape! Inc. partnered with the Logwood Basic School (preschool). They rebuilt the existing school and expanded it by 1000 sq ft. (from 800 sq. ft.). With a little more space it's easier to educate and serve nearly 200 children, ages 3 to 6. Logwood is a small rural agricultural community in the Parish of Hanover. It's about 15 miles from the resort town of Negril. Founding Board Members successfully orchestrated this construction project in record speed; 5 weeks! Community members, including several parents took part in the project. They helped build a restroom (instead of an outhouse), create a new kitchen and new desks for 100 children.

IMPROVED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Students at Peggy Barry's Primary School no longer have School to suffer leaking roofs or falling down out-houses. In 1998, Great Shape! partnered with Principal, Mr. Eric Coote and the Parent Teachers Association. They wrote a proposal to secure $100,000 (U.S.) from the Jamaica Social Investment Fund.
More than 400 children attended this dilapidated school. Crews repaired the roof and replaced the unsafe outhouses with flush toilets. The team added a proper drainage system and a school fence. For the first time classrooms are now separated by walls. Students can now better concentrate on the lessons.

NEW ROAD FOR POTTERY COMMUNITY
Great Shape! Inc. secured a grant from the USA for the Brompton Road Project. This small, self sufficient community in the Parish of St. Elizabeth had a history of making and selling pottery. But Hurricane Gilbert (1988) washed out the all important access road. This project restored the road so raw materials could enter and finished products could be trucked out.

SCHOOL NAMED FOR FOUNDER OF GREAT SHAPE! INC.
Administrators unofficially re-named their school Myrtle Anne Franklin Preschool in Peggy Barry. Crews built this school in 1996 with a $20,000 (U.S.) grant from the Butler Family Fund in Washington D.C.
Before this grant the 115 students learned to read and write in a makeshift classroom of 15’ x ’15; no windows, ventilation or proper lighting.
The new school is about 3000’ square feet with plenty of space, light and fresh air; much improved conditions to promote proper early childhood education.

ONE PROJECT AT A TIME

Great Shape! Inc. rebuilt a community center after Hurricane Gilbert blew off its roof.

Great Shape! Inc. has organized volunteers to visit Jamaica to assist in schools. In 1998 15 students from the University of Pittsburgh took on St. Catherine Primary School in Montego Bay. These students spent their spring break teaching kids art, math, English and sports.

Great Shape! Inc. has assisted with basketball development at the high school and adult community league levels.

Our facilitators have assisted Jamaicans with overseas scholarships to play at US colleges.

Other projects include the delivery of hundreds of toothbrushes, medical supplies, sports equipment, educational materials and books.

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