BLACK RIVER, ST. ELIZABETH:

The Alumina Partners of Jamaica's (ALPART) annual educational programmes in areas of safety, health and environment protection commenced this week with participation from 30 all-age and primary schools in south St. Elizabeth and Manchester.

The project is sponsored and managed by the ALPART Home, School, and Street Safety Committee, an organisation established by the company in 1989 to promote safety awareness and accident prevention measures in schools and communities.

The 2007-08 programme will start with a safety leadership training exercise for over 200 students, which will be conducted by ALPART's safety department in conjunction with staff members of the police and fire brigade.

Student monitors will act as coordinators for the various learning programmes in the schools leading up to a final presentation of artwork, training modules and performance achievements at an end-of-year exhibition in July 2008.

- Rayon Dyer

WALDERSTON, MANCHESTER:

Noted Manchester businesswoman Jean Anderson was last Sunday installed as the fifth president of the Lay Magistrates Association of Manchester.

The ceremony took place at the Mandeville Parish Church and was done by Custos of the parish, Dr. Gilbert Allen.

Mrs. Anderson, who is among the longest-serving lay magistrates in the island, is the first female to be appointed president of the 15-year-old association and brings to the office years of experience from more than 15 boards and associations including the Manchester Chamber of Commerce.

Mrs. Anderson who is a sister of former prime minister and distinguished fellow at the University of the West Indies, Edward Seaga, is the managing director of Global Services.

- Byron McDaniel

SALT MARSH, TRELAWNY:

The principal of the Salt Marsh Primary School and the parents of her students are requesting an overhead bridge.

The school, formerly an all-age institution, located in Salt Marsh, Trelawny, is at the side of a highway, which presents constant danger for children crossing.

The first calls for the construction of the bridge came after the death of one pupil from the school in March, but, with another child hit recently and a multiplicity of near misses, the stakeholders are renewing their requests.

Principal Mervyn Sinclaire said the use of police to cross children cannot happen all the time and road signs and markings aren't being obeyed by road users, making an overhead bridge necessary.

One resident has said that without the bridge, it will only be a matter of time before another child is killed.

- Richard Morais

PORT MARIA, ST. MARY:

New Mayor of Port Maria, Richard Creary has vowed to continue on the path set by his predecessors.

The path of previous administrations, Mayor Creary says, has been brave and has helped in the development of St. Mary.

The mayor was speaking at his swearing in ceremony last Thursday at the Anglican Church in the parish's capital, where he also highlighted his plans for the town.

The mayor says he intends to continue drain cleaning, the fixing of parish council roads, and a programme to put up signs to name roads in the parish.

In an interview with The Gleaner, the new mayor went on to point out other initiatives including: giving the major towns in the parish a face lift beginning with Highgate, Gayle and Richmond; repairing the sidewalks, putting up stop signs and no parking signs; and assigning numbers to business places in the towns in order to make it easier for persons to find places.

- Lisia Lynch

JAMAICA:

Jamaican student, Wayne Stephens, was elected president of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) by its House of Delegates at the recently concluded annual session in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The ASDA House of Delegates is made up of two voting representatives of the ASDA chapter at each U.S. dental school.

As president, Wayne will serve for one year as the official spokesperson of the 17,000-member organisation and also as the chairman of the 14-member board of trustees.

ASDA is the largest unified voice of U.S. dental students with 85 per cent of that group being members.

Wayne is in his third year of dental studies at ivy-league school, Columbia University, and is the first black student to hold the office.

This year, four students with national leadership experience in the ASDA declared their candidacy for the position of president. The election process involved each candidate addressing the House of Delegates and then responding to questions in five smaller caucuses made up of the chapters within a region.

- Contributed

GRANGE HILL, WESTMORELAND:

Twenty specially colour-coded computer keyboards were handed over to the Grange Hill High School in Westmoreland last Monday.

The keyboards are to be used as tools under a revolutionary project aimed at assisting students to develop speed in their typing skills.

The gift came from the Negril Educational and Environmental Trust (NEET), which was given permission by the Ministry of Education to run the project which will operate as a pilot in 12 schools in western Jamaica.

Grange Hill High is the first institution to benefit through the programme.

Programme coordinator, Winston Wellington, said that the initiative should be up and running in the 12 selected schools within the next six months, with some schools receiving computers, while those that are already equipped with computers would receive the colour-coded keyboards.

The programme is designed as a 17-lesson schedule, and should take a student six to eight weeks to cover all the material.