Haile Selassie High students help transform campus on Labour Day

Instead of treating Labour Day as time off, a group of students reported to Haile Selassie High on Monday to help refresh classrooms and improve the compound, while Principal Anniona Jones said young people are more likely to serve when adults take time to hear them, share the purpose and make them part of the work.

Carrying brushes, rollers and garden equipment, the students worked alongside teachers and private-sector volunteers as the school received upgrades under a Labour Day initiative backed by Petrojam Limited, Scotiabank and Total Tools.

Jones said the improvements came after several days of volunteer effort and sponsorship during the Labour Day period, with the aim of lifting both the school’s physical facilities and the atmosphere for learning.

“We’re very grateful at Haile Selassie High School to have several corporate partners who have, over a period of four days actually, started from Friday last week, volunteered their time, volunteered their resources and their influence, to be able to help us improve the infrastructure and the general aesthetics of our school,” Jones said.

She said the programme covered several areas of the campus, including fresh paint for the auditorium and guidance department, a new window for the home economics laboratory, and renovation work on a full classroom block.

For Jones, the exercise was not only about brighter buildings. She said it also showed how schools can benefit when communities and corporate partners work with them in practical ways.

One of the strongest signals, she said, was the number of students who chose to spend part of the public holiday painting, cleaning and helping to restore areas of the school.

Jones said adults sometimes misread teenagers, when many of them are ready to get involved if they feel valued and are invited into the process with respect.

“Young people are amazing and I absolutely enjoy working with teenagers. They’re actually my favourite age group to work with because they’re relatively simple. They call things out in the way that they see them and if we just stop to listen and explain, then oftentimes when they buy into that vision and they know that you not only love them but you’re willing to put your time and effort behind that, then they’re usually right there with you,” Jones said.

She added that students often give more freely of themselves when they understand that their effort is part of something larger than their own needs.

Haile Selassie High head girl Jecola Watson was among the students who accepted that charge, saying she wanted to contribute to making the school look better.

“Haile Selassie, if you come here, you are not just a student at Haile Selassie, you’ll be one of the family members. Because coming at Haile Selassie, they won’t let you feel like a stranger. They welcome you, they give you that warmth, they give you that longing that you never expected. So for me, Haile Selassie is family,” she said.

Watson said she likes watching the campus take on new life through colour and beautification work, and saw Labour Day as a chance to help clean and improve the school for students now enrolled and those who will come after them.

She urged other young people to see Labour Day as more than a break from routine, saying it can be used to care for their surroundings and build pride in their communities.

The project also attracted volunteers from outside Haile Selassie High. Esther Reid, a student of Convent of Mercy Academy Alpha, said she was drawn by her interest in history and by the meaning she attaches to the institution.

“I chose Haile Selassie High School because I think it has a lot of history regarding the school and how it came to Jamaica, and I think it’s just one of the biggest properties out there that just honours the whole Rastafarian movement regarding Haile Selassie and his foundation,” Reid said.

Reid said she had other options for spending the holiday, but felt moved to help.

“I think Labour Day is a very significant and important day where we as Jamaicans come together as a community… to help out and beautify the country or different areas,” Reid said.

She said she tries to take up chances to assist others, believing in putting her “best foot forward” and giving back in useful ways rather than staying home on the public holiday.

During the painting and beautification work, Petrojam Limited communications manager Elon Parkinson assisted students including Reid, Watson, and Shaneiria Beadle, a lower sixth-form student of St Andrew High School for Girls.