For the last three years Helping Hands Foundation through its President Mr. Karl Hale has been contributing to BREDS-The Treasure Beach Foundation, concentrating on the upgrading of the Sandy Bank Primary School with projects such as:

Repainting of the school.

Erecting the perimeter fencing of the school.

Resurfacing of the school yard and the driveway.

Assisting with the present vision of the school to attain an 80% literacy (presently 68%) level by 2012 by paying for a remedial teacher and purchase of literacy softwares.

Contributions for these projects total $25,000 Canadian. These funds were raised primarily by the hosting of fundraising dinners in Toronto.

Now, in addition to all of the above, Karl Hale and friends have come here today to give a tennis training session with the students. The students had a great time!!

Thank you so very much to Mr. Karl Hale and his friends for choosing Sandy Bank Primary School as the recipient of their generosity and kindness.



You can view more photos here or by the link in the Photo Gallery

Can anyone venture a guess why the current literacy rate is so low? I realize raising it from 68% to 80% would be an excellent accomplishment, but this still seems inadequate. Why would it be considered acceptable for one out of five students to get through the sixth grade without being able to read?

If you strive for perfection, you will achieve excellence. I agree - the goal should be %100 literacy.

The sad reality is that Sandy Bank School has one of the highest literacy rate in the parish

why should a school set goals that are unrealistic at this point if the literacy rate is 68%; 2% short of 70%? Lets be realistic- attainable targets must be set, the school must know their students capabilities and other factors affecting learning.i suppose the school will then move from 80% to 100%. is'nt that so sandy bank school?

Here, here, Logical.

Journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step.

it would have been wise for PAST STUDENT to get his or her records straight before posting this message.

What IS the literacy rate in the parish? Can you list other schools with a higher literacy rate than Sandy Bank? Do you have any idea why the literacy rate at Sandy Bank is so low?

It's nice to see the School is getting help. This one looks like a photo opportunity. There is so much more than can be done to help these children. Lets talk about getting a court at the school and so many more people will get involved.

Great job Karl!! hopefully all the money you are donating to the school maybe some can be used to set up a tennis court.I would be more than happy to get involved as my family has a passion for Tennis.

I am all for sports in the schools and I think a tennis court would be a nice addition. I also think literacy is far more important than tennis assuming there is a choice.

here we go again pointing fingers {edited by TBNet}

Well Done and Big Up, Mr Hale.Thankyou for your dedication to the children of Sandy Bank. I am sure this fundraising involved many hours of volunteer work. I suppose if people want to put in their 2 cents, they may do so by raising funds to donate as well. Respect.

I meant no disrespect and think Mr. Hale and his group did an admirable job. I am merely more concerned about the literacy rate than putting in a tennis court ASSUMING THERE IS A CHOICE. Please do not read anything extra into what I wrote or try to be a mind reader. If I wanted to say something else or had additional thoughts to express I would have written them. Others have questioned the literacy rate and they were not blasted.

My two cents, perhaps the person was 'blasting' another post. If you are referring to the post by Sandy, note the time stamp on it. Posts which are edited are sometimes approved a while after they are posted so both the moderators can chime in on the content.

If we may gently remind you of your words, which are very valid to everyone posting here, "Please do not read anything extra into what [one writes] or try to be a mind reader".

-TBNet

Thank you to TBNet. For someone who is interested in literacy, it would help if I learned to read more carefully.

If Sandy Bank Primary School has a literacy rate of 68% why aren't more student doing better in the G-SAT examination. You can count the few students who get into the traditional high schools. It's not just now that students are not performing, it has always been a low performing school, However, the school is doing a little better, which prove that it can do much better.