The Y Makes Summer Better

Over three hundred and seventy students successfully completed the annual summer classes at the YWCA. It featured primary and high school students taking on additional work during their annual break in areas of academics and sports, including swimming. News Five’s Duane Moody attended the closing ceremony held today for the second cohort of students and files this report. 

Duane Moody, Reporting

Math, English, Spanish, swimming, basketball, karate and even cooking were among the many programs offered by the Young Women Christian Association, better known as YWCA, for its 2017 Summer Classes. Approximately three hundred and seventy-four students from both primary and secondary schools were mentored over the past three weeks through the Creating A Safe Space Agenda program and with assistance from the U.S. Embassy.

Alice Jackson

Alice Jackson, Coordinator, Summer Program 2017

“It has continued with this second phase which is remedial. The first phase took its ceremony last week for swimming. So this second phase is remedial for math, language and Spanish. Along with those programs are karate, basketball, arts and craft, cooking, cake and pastry. We had a total of three hundred and seventy-four students taking part in this. Along with that, we had ten swimming instructors, thirty-seven volunteers and sixteen facilitators.  The volunteers alone, it starts from there…we mentor them for the real world, for the working world and they appreciate that as well. They sign in as regular; they help out the students as teachers—because I don’t call them volunteers, I call them teachers. And they continue working along, growing and working with skills…well-rounded, not only academics.”

Standard Six Holy Redeemer Primary School student, Briel Diego, says that she took part in the summer program to remain engaged as she out on break from school.

Briel Diego

Briel Diego, Participant

“I took cake and pastry, swimming and math and English. I took them because I just don’t like to waste my summer. And the swimming, I just took it to learn other techniques that I need to know.”

Duane Moody

“So how was the program for you?”

Briel Diego

“It was very exciting and fun and just very good.”

Meanwhile, basketball athlete and student at Edward P. Yorke High School, Andre Gillett, improved his skills on the court with the CASSA Program.

Andre Gillett

Andre Gillett, Participant

“I didn’t really decide, but my basketball coach recommended me to come here.”

Duane Moody

“Talk to us about some of the skills that you learned.”

Andre Gillett

“Skills, it’s really just mental skills like anger skills. I don’t really have anger issues, but anger skills for others—self confidence discipline and all that. And for the basketball, just continuous ball holding, and all the basketball stuff that you need to know.”

Duane Moody for News Five.