STUDENTS OF Parkinson Memorial Secondary School may soon be publishing books for young children.
Principal Jeff Broomes says it’s because of a commitment given by an American agency to publish whatever books the students produce.
The plan is to set up a writers’ club at the school to hone skills and produce literature for young people, he said during a media briefing at the school yesterday.
In time for the September term, the school should have acquired from the United States thousands of dollars worth of materials that “will help develop a writers’ club here at the school, where we can be writing our own little books for the nursery school close by . . . and the primary schools in the area and indeed the junior section in our school”, he said.
Broomes is considering having the creative writing project “built into our schools programme, just like we’re doing with our CVQs (Caribbean Vocational Qualifications).
He said: “At the end of the day we will have published authors within the school. We’re not just writing things. One of the guarantees is that they will be published in the United States of America.”
Free lessons
Broomes also announced that two agencies headed by former Parkinson School students – Pinelands Creative Workshop (PCW) and DB Productions Inc. – were helping to fund programmes at the school.
PCW, which has been assisting with free lessons for students preparing for the annual Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination, was committed to funding a mural which will highlight outstanding former students such as late West Indies fast bowler Malcolm Marshall, entertainer Edwin Yearwood and former Government Minister Hamilton Lashley.
DB Productions Inc., a local entertainment production company, has provided more than $5 000 worth of computers and several books, according to Broomes.
The principal said one of his goals was uplifting the legacy of the school and the reading and writing skills.
“In so doing we have to reach out to our supportive partners, knowing very well that Government finances can only do so much and no more,” he told reporters.
He said that later in the year the school would be publishing a biography entitled The Legacy Of Parkinson Memorial, which opened in 1961. (TY)
