GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman – Caymanian business conglomerate DMS Organization this week announced its shortlist for the coveted Joanna Clarke Excellence in Education Award (JCA), and the Joanna Clarke Scholarship Fund. Through the JCA, DMS will reward worthy education initiatives with up to KYD $12,000.00. Recognizing the importance of private sector support for education, DMS introduced the award to honour Ms. Clarke in 2007, and publicly acknowledge the efforts of all persons and organisations that contribute to education in the Cayman Islands.

Don Seymour, founder of DMS, commented, “We recognize that corporate responsibility and business success go hand in hand and it is particularly rewarding to invest in our nation’s youth – the future of Cayman. Giving back to the local community through a selection of sponsorship and volunteer efforts has always been fundamental to our business practice. This award seeks to bring awareness to the contributions of our local educators and encourage others to demonstrate their support.”

The JCA Committee have carefully reviewed all applications submitted and applaud the following shortlisted proposals:

•            National Gallery of the Cayman Islands; Art on the Move

Five new learning sessions will link school curricula to the permanent collection of art on display at the Gallery. The sessions are designed to enhance learning during the early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary stages of education. They have been developed in consultation with teachers across the island.

•            Lighthouse School; ASD Building Block

The first autism intervention programme of its kind in the Cayman Islands, this project was developed to meet the unique needs of a group of elementary-aged students on the autism spectrum, and involves students’ engagements in a variety of educational and therapeutic activities; activities that have collectively served to promote individual achievements.

•            Cayman Islands Government Speech and Language Department; Communication with PECS

PECS stands for Picture Exchange Communication System and helps children learn how to communicate by exchanging pictures representing a request for an object.   This initiative aims to set up PECS for non- verbal and minimally verbal children in the Government Education System and provide a means for nonverbal and minimally verbal children to communicate effectively.  The project hopes to reduce frustrations and associated behavior in nonverbal and minimally verbal children, enable these children to experience success in communication and thereby increase their self-esteem.

•          Red Bay Primary School; Stop & Think Social Skills Training

The goal of this project is to help students learn social problem-solving skills and to reduce the occurrence of impulsive and reactive solutions by students to common interpersonal conflict situations in school. A second goal is to offer interested high school students, studying Drama and/or Media Studies, the opportunity to participate in a project of this nature. The hope is that this would assist in motivating them to think about their future career options.

•          Cayman Traditional Arts; Heritage & Culture Outreach

This project aims to help students have a deep understanding of heritage and culture, taught through the history and visual art traditions of the Cayman Islands. Cayman Traditional Arts (CTA) hopes to provide an expanded heritage education database and system to primary school students and teachers.

Commented Ms. Clarke, “My favourite part of this whole process is interacting with the children and learning how they are benefitting. After all, it is about the children. We are always greeted with such a warm reception, and to date it has been indescribably rewarding to see how well maintained the initiatives we have selected are.”

Previous recipients of the JCA include last year’s winners, Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) Young Environmentalists Green Guide and Cayman Prep and High School Robotics Program.  Previous award winners also include Catch Up Literacy, Speech and Language Therapy Department’s “Making Hanen Happen” and George Town Primary Digital Visual Media Club.

For further information and to obtain an application contact the JCA Committee at 749-2540 or email [email protected]