The American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (AMCHAM T&T) continues its support for the Russell Latapy Secondary School with the donation of thirty (30) feminine care packages for vulnerable students and twenty-two (22) empty steel drums to enhance the school’s music department and to help the students prepare for CXC examinations.

The request for empty steel drums was made to the AMCHAM T&T Secretariat via the school’s administration and discussed with the AMCHAM T&T Security Committee. Peter Charles, Managing Director of Jian Enterprises and a member of the committee was able to procure the twenty-two (22) empty steel drums through his contacts at Carasol Ltd. and Hyline Label Company Ltd. Sixteen (16) of the drums were donated by Carasol Ltd. while an additional six (6) came from Hyline Label Company Ltd.

Meanwhile, the feminine care packages were part of a sponsored donation from Xtra Foods. Upon receipt of the packages, AMCHAM T&T decided to distribute the thirty (30) feminine care packages to the school to provide additional support and assistance to students in need.

“The students and staff at the Russell Latapy Secondary School have become a second family to AMCHAM T&T,” said Nirad Tewarie, CEO of AMCHAM T&T. “We are very proud of the students who continue to display resilience through the pandemic. While we have been working with RLSS over the past four years, school closures over the last two years have made interacting with the children more challenging. However, we intend to get back into the groove of things and are looking forward to supporting the football team, providing field trips, mentorship activities, and the development of the children generally.”

Meanwhile, the Principal of the RLSS, Mrs Alicia Lucien-Baptiste thanked AMCHAM T&T for the generous donations which offer much-needed assistance to the female student population and will provide additional resources for the school’s CVQ steelpan manufacturing programme. “At a time where the Ministry of Education has extended a call for corporate T&T to partner with schools to improve the quality of education being offered to our students, AMCHAM T&T continues to heed that call as they have been an active stakeholder at the RLSS for the past four years, and we can say without fear of contradiction that their engagements have improved the quality of learning for our students.”

Mrs Baptiste says she hopes to see more corporate entities have meaningful engagements with the school to ensure that student learning outcomes are achieved in a holistic sense within a community that is caring, nurturing and supportive. “Effective education systems and learning environments are created when all come together in a meaningful way through collaboration and connection," Baptiste said. "We are again thankful to AMCHAM T&T for the years of collaboration and connection, and we indeed invite more of corporate T&T to get onboard.”

As school fully re-opens after a two-year closure due to the pandemic, AMCHAM T&T will continue to mentor students and provide the necessary support and assistance wherever possible. The initiative started in 2018 when AMCHAM T&T adopted a Form 1 class through an orientation programme with a focus on building students’ capacity for leadership through mentorship engagements, field trips to tertiary institutions and other educational places of interest, and classroom discussions on important life skills and other areas of individual capacity building.

Since then, AMCHAM T&T’s corporate social responsibility has widened to include the adoption of a second Form 1 class by Mr. Jovan Abraham, a member of the AMCHAM T&T’s Security Committee. Meanwhile, the wider student population has also benefitted through students’ engagement at various Youth Symposiums and debates held by AMCHAM T&T and from the sponsorship of uniforms and coaching services for the school’s football team. A Professional Development Session was held for teachers in the area of “Teaching Strategies,” while the Principal, Mrs. Alicia Lucien Baptiste was recently featured as a speaker at AMCHAM T&T’s Women’s Leadership Conference 2022.

Also, forty-two (42) computers were donated by AMCHAM T&T to assist students with the transition to remote learning during the pandemic. Twenty-five (25) computers were utilized for the creation of the school’s tech club while an additional seventeen (17) students who entered Form 5 in the new academic year benefited from desktops to continue their studies at their homes. These seventeen (17) students were also part of the inaugural class of the RLSS Tech Camp in 2020. The tech camp was facilitated by AMCHAM T&T’s partner Restore a Sense of I Can (RSC) who provided the refurbished computers via a donation from Republic Bank which was outfitted with webcams and headsets by AMCHAM T&T through the local school board. Also, AMCHAM T&T outsourced the services of Smart Vibrations in 2020 to help establish the school’s DJ and Sound Engineering Club with the provision of DJ equipment and functions for thirty (30) students.

AMCHAM T&T will continue to host future engagements with both the school’s administration and the respective student population to enhance their skills and meet the needs of the students. Currently, the school is desirous of a total of sixty (60) empty steel drums to ensure the success of its music department. Companies that are willing to join AMCHAM T&T on this initiative and provide additional assistance to the school are asked to contact AMCHAM T&T at 295-4869.

AMCHAM T&T would like to convey our gratitude to companies that will be willing to assist with this initiative. We are also grateful to Xtra Foods, Peter Charles, Managing Director of Jian Enterprises and the kind folks at Carasol Ltd. and Hyline Label Company Ltd for their donations and overall support provided to the Russell Latapy Secondary School.

For further questions or comments please contact: Nirad Tewarie, CEO AMCHAM T&T at niradtewarie@amchamtt.com.