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JPS Partners for

Teacher Training PAGE 5

THE JPS FOUNDATION

A PRODUCTION OF THE JPS FOUNDATION NO. 1 JANUARY 2014 WWW.MYJPSFOUNDATION.ORG

Newsletter

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Celebrating OUR VOLTS

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JPS Brings the

Joy of Christmas PAGE 7

GROOMING LEADERS

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SCHOLARS FOR KOREA

Model Schools

Project Launched PAGE 4

2. COMMUNITY

THE WORDS ‘JPS Foundation’ are becoming a household phrase on the lips of Jamaicans since it launched in August 2013… and this is largely be-cause of your efforts. Yes, you! Through your support — your sharing of time, talent and treasures — we have been posi-tively impacting lives all across the Jamaica. As you know, our company has had a long-standing give back programme. Actually, the JPS Early Childhood School Nutrition Programme is viewed as a best practice within the Early Child-hood sector, having touched the lives of thousands of families for more than 10 years. The Pro-gramme now provides meals for more than 25,000 students across the island. Main Focus Areas Stemming from this, the main focus of the Foundation at this time will be Education and Youth Leadership Development, as these areas have the greatest potential to impact the future of Jamaica. Our Foundation is manned by Nathelie Taylor (Manager) and Sophia Lambert (Coordinator) who are committed to acting on our vision to improve lives and strengthen communities. But there is such strong support from others. For starters, we have a Board of nine members, led by Sir Ken-neth Hall. The others members are Kelly Tomblin, Employee Representatives, Keith Garvey and Camille Lumsden-Dwyer, Beverly Lopez, Frank Anthony Ray, Professor Gordon Shirley, EWP Representative, Geun Tee Kim and Marubeni Representa-

tive, Masao Imazato. As a part of the Corporate Communications Department, our Foundation’s operations are guided by CorpComm Head, Winsome Callum, with the ex-pertise of Communications Officers Shenee Tabbanah, Audrey Williams and Ruthlyn

Johnson, as well as Social Media Manag-er, Tricia Williamson driving it. Special mention must be made of Williamson and IT Administrator, Brandon Lobban, who worked tirelessly to

develop and maintain our Foun-dation's presence on social media forums—our website, Facebook and Twitter. We invite you to visit us at any of these by logging into: www.myjpsfoundation.org; facebook.com/jpsfoundationja twitter.com/myjpsfoundation

We also receive strong support from our Community Relations Officers — Allaine Harvey (Region West), Daffodil Bruce-James (Region South) and Omar Thomas (Region East). This Connection Newsletter is a monthly production of the JPS Foundation and will share infor-mation on our activities. This first issue takes a look back at our first few months in opera-tion; especially, showcasing your sterling contributions. But hey, we also want to hear from you! What’s happening in your region or parish? Is there a social need in Education or Youth Leadership that you be-lieve the Foundation can assist with? Tell us about it all! Kindly contact us via telephone at 935-3514 or via email at foundation@jpsco.com. Thank you for all you do and we look forward to a great year!

The ‘My JPS Foundation’ Drive

Nathelie Taylor (left), and Sophia Lambert

The JPS Foundation belongs to us all. You help to power our Foundation’s vision with your energy everyday and we want to engage you even more. Between January and March 2014, we will be visiting you at your parish offices, to share updates and show how you can continue making a difference. For 2014,

there are so many ways to be a part of our Foundation and help us make real life differences. You can join us on community out-reach activities, donate in cash or kind and share information about our Foundation with our valued customers. Let’s all join hands and hearts across Jamaica, for Jamaica!

JULLITE REEVES is a power-house volunteer at JPS! Her contributions to community outreach were recognised when her own colleagues se-lected her as the Top Volunteer for 2013 as part of the staging of the first JPS Foundation Top Volunteer Award. Jullite was among 18 other VOLTS recognised for their spir-it of volunteerism at the Awards held on Friday Decem-ber 6 at the JPS Sports Club. Parish winners from Regions South, East and West were chosen as Top Volunteers based on number of outreach participated in; company in-volvement and willingness to offer assistance to other parish-es. From that were shortlisted four Re-gional winners— Shernane Spence, Region East; Jullite

Reeves, Region West; Winsome Sadhi, Region South and Courtney Whyte, Corporate. It was Jullite, however, who copped the Top Volunteer Award, which came with

prizes of multiple plaques, a prize of a Ham courtesy of CB Foods and a special gift basket from JPS President and CEO, Kelly Tomblin. Congrats Jullite and continue the great work!

3. COMMUNITY

Celebrating our

JULLITE’S LOVE for JPS is quite evident, as she points out that “whatever JPS is involved in I will support and be a part of it.” In 2013, for instance, the proud VOLTS member partici-pated in several major activi-ties, including Beach Clean-up, building a bus shed for the School of Special Education students on Labour Day and reading with the students of that institution on Internation-al Literacy Day. Coupled with her natural de-sire to help others, it is this

loyalty to the company that further drives her desire to be involved and to give back in a charitable way. “Volunteerism is important to the company and its growth. I see the company is making an impact on lives and I think it’s my duty to also play a part in that process. With the for-mation of the JPS Foundation now, I know that we can be-come more involved and help even more persons all across Jamaica.” “Many persons just see JPS as a utility company. But having

been here for 26 years I know how the company has helped to make a positive difference for people and the country, and I am proud to help contin-ue to create a strong impact on the nation’s development.” Having enjoyed her experi-ences volunteering to improve the lives of others, Jullite un-hesitatingly encourages others to give back. “Giving back and being of service to others is great. You should always try to assist and help others. It’s good for you and even better for them.”

Meet our Top Volunteer: Jullite Reeves

Above, Region West Community Relations Officer, Allaine Harvey (left) presents plaques to Jullite Reeves. Winners pictured left are: A: Tashie Lee. B: Roderick Keating. C: Sharee James. D: Donovan Cunningham. E: Courtney Whyte. F: Shernane Spence

A

B

C

D

E

F

BUILDING ON the platform established by the Early Childhood Nutrition Programme, the JPS Foundation has launched Model Schools Projects in three Early Childhood institutes across the island. The Foundation’s primary objective is to help these schools — York Town Basic School in Clarendon (Region South), Fal-mouth Gardens Early Childhood Institute in Trelawny (Region West) and Rennock Lodge Infant School in Kingston (Region East) — satisfy and surpass the basic standards established by the Early Childhood Commis-sion in the areas of:

Staffing

Development/Educational Programmes

Interactions & Relationships with Chil-dren

Physical Environment

Indoor & Outdoor Equipment, Furnish-ing & Supplies

Health

Nutrition

Safety and

Interaction with Parents & Community Members.

An added area of focus for the three-year project will be making these institutions into model schools for energy usage. This will include:

Infrastructure upgrade

Wiring the school for electricity, as needed

Retrofitting the school to use only energy efficient lighting (LED)

Working with the institutions to ensure that they manage their usage and keep their energy costs as low as possible.

The schools were selected in collaboration with the JPS Foundation’s partners at the Early Childhood Commission, with key considerations being the needs of the school, as well as the opportunities for in-volvement of JPS employees. Measurement will be critical to the model school project. The JPS Foundation will start with the level of compliance with the Early Childhood Commission standards, as reflect-ed in the ECC Inspection Reports. All the schools identified are meeting less than 40% of the requirements of the ECC.

JPS FOUNDATION DEVELOPING EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION THROUGH

D

MODEL SCHOOLS PROJECT

FALMOUTH GARDENS EARLY CHILDHOOD INSTITUTE LAUNCH

4. EDUCATION

C GAVIN MYERS and Leon Samms have been awarded postgraduate scholarships tenable at the Yeungnam University in Daegu, Korea to undertake studies in community develop-ment, starting March 2014. Made possible through a partnership be-tween the JPS Foundation and stakeholders EWP (Korea East West Power), the scholar-ships will enable the two young men to under-take an 18-month Masters course at the Uni-versity’s Department of 'New Community Pro-ject and International Development' in the Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul (PSPS). The scholarships were offered as part of EW-P’s support for Education and Community Development in Jamaica, and further under-scores the JPS Foundation’s charge to provide Jamaican youth with opportunities to access quality education at all levels. Advertised in November 2013, the scholar-ships cover full tuition, air travel, and living expenses of about J$100,000 per month. Ap-plicants for these postgraduate scholarships must have had a first degree or equivalent. JPS Foundation Manager, Nathelie Taylor, says the response to the scholarship offer was overwhelming and indicative of the depth of

work being executed by youth within their communities. “There was an influx of quality applications that shows just how committed our young people are to nation building. The two recipi-ents demonstrated a profound understanding of social issues in Jamaica and are deeply committed and prepared to work in the area of policy implementation and community de-velopment.”

32-year-old Gavin Myers is a Community Development Officer at the Social Develop-ment Commission with more than 10 years in community development. His co-awardee, Leon Samms, is a 23-year-old Administrative Specialist in the College of Business and Management at the Uni-versity of Technology and serves as first Vice President of the Fletcher’s Land Police Youth Club.

SCHOLARS FOR KOREA POSTGRAD STUDY

Gavin Myers Leon Samms

GUIDED BY its commitment to enhancing the quality of education in Jamaica, the JPS Foundation in November announced its partnership with the United Way of Jamaica for the training of four Early Childhood teachers over a two-year period. The JPS Foundation’s investment is valued at J$1.2 million and will allow the teachers to be trained in the ‘Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education’ at the Mico University College starting January 2014. Two of the teachers were selected by the JPS Foundation from its model schools – York Town Basic School in Clarendon and Falmouth Gardens Early Childhood Institute Trelawny. The other two educators, one of whom teaches Special Needs students, will be selected by the United Way.

JPS President & CEO, and Director of the JPS Foundation, Kelly Tomblin, noted that “Next to being a parent, teaching is the most challenging, most rewarding, most necessary job of all and no matter what we do, nothing will happen if don’t support our teachers. So we are excited today to an-nounce our contribution of J$1.2 million to start an effort to support our teachers, in partnership with the United Way.” Beneficiary, Carmeta Richards also said: “We are happy for this wonderful oppor-tunity to develop the early childhood edu-cation system. This opportunity will help us to better execute knowledge and skills in nurturing and moulding young minds and we are committed to doing our best during the training period.”

EDUCATION

5. EDUCATION

FOUR YOUNG women in tertiary institutions across the island have been awarded scholarships through the JPS Foundation’s Young Women Leaders Programme, an initia-tive of its Youth Leadership Academy. With Youth Leadership Devel-opment a core focus area, the recently established JPS Foun-dation is working towards as-sisting the development of young Jamaican leaders. A first step in this regard is the awarding of the scholarships to outstanding female students at each of our main tertiary insti-

tutions. These scholarships, made possible through the kind donations of partners of the JPS Foundation, who will also be Mentors to the candidates, will include payment towards the recipients’ tuition fees, as well as exposure to leadership train-ing opportunities. The recipients are University of the West Indies Law student, Shana-Kay Cunningham; Mass Communications major at the Northern Caribbean University, Alshadane Wright; Chemical Engineering major at the Uni-versity of Technology, Kemesha Vassell and Guidance and Coun-

selling student at the Jamaica Theological Seminary, Angel-ique Gardener. President & CEO of JPS, Kelly Tomblin, declared that “we have a leadership crisis in the world and the JPS Foundation Leadership Academy is being built to tackle that. This initia-tive in particular is about help-ing our young women find their voice and have a forum for learning and for discussing is-sues as they rise from being young women to influential decision makers. It’s about helping them to step into their full power.”

6. YOUTH LEADERSHIP

Third-year University of the West Indies medical student, Eric Salkey was the first induc-tee into the JPS Foundation Leadership Academy. The 25-year-old future surgeon and six-year JPS Foundation Scholar shares his success tips to help you achieve the unachievable in 2014: Dream Big I often thought about the fin-est things in life while growing up and how I can achieve it in the most efficient and legal way possible. Be Self-Motivated Self-motivation has a much longer effect on a person as this drives them to succeed. This is what fuels my dream. Be Passionate It’s important to be passionate about what you are doing, no matter how 'insignificant' the task may seem to you. Put your all into it. Be Patient The strongest structures are built on the best foundations and we should patiently pre-pare ourselves for what lies ahead. Challenge Yourself Sometimes venture outside the box and one’s comfort zone and take risks. No risk, no reward.

Eric Salkey’s five

top success tips

Salkey with Kelly Tomblin

Recipients of the Young Women Leaders Scholarship with JPS President and CEO, Kelly Tomblin. From left are Shana-Kay Cunningham, Alshadane Wright, Kemesha Vassell and Angelique Gardener.

JPS FOUNDATION GROOMING

YOUNG WOMEN LEADERS

THE JPS FOUNDATION SUPPORTS COMMUNITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The JPS Foundation sponsored the Trench Town Trade & Investment Fair, a one-day event conceptualised by the Agency for Inner-city Renewal (AIR) to bring community based micro-entrepreneurs into the mainstream of the Jamaican economy. Here, JPS Foundation Coordinator, Sophia Lambert (left) and Manager, Nathelie Taylor pose with AIR’s head and noted Social Entrepreneur, Dr. Hen-ley Morgan, at a press conference held prior to the Fair. At the Fair, held November 16, 2013at the Emancipation Park in Kingston, the Foundation hosted women from a Central Village Women Business Group who showcased household wares that they make.

COMMUNITY

7. COMMUNITY

CAPTIONS: From top left: VOLTS give a facelift to the St. Ann Infirmary; Santa grants a wish at the York Town Basic School Christmas Fundraising Fiesta; handover of appliances to the York Town Basic School and a Christmas treat at the Strathmore Gardens Child Care facility.

TEAM MEMBERS across the island generously shared their time, talent and treasures during several Christmas events. The JPS Foundation’s Clarendon-based Model School, York Town Basic, was gifted with a 15-cubic Freezer and a six-burner stove early in December, purchased from funds raised earlier in the year. Later in December, a well-planned treat was held on the school grounds which treated community members to a delightful day of wholesome entertainment and gifts for the children. Out West in St. Ann, the VOLTS were electrify-ing in their contributions to the St. Ann Infirmary, where a 15-cubic refrigerator was handed over and the kitchen given a facelift. The teams also treated children of two schools. Continuing a beautiful tradition set in 2012, the Corporate Office – led by Customer Care and the JPS Foundation — set up a Giving Tree in support of the Strathmore Gardens Children’s Home in Spanish Town. Ornaments bearing the names of the 39 chil-dren at the home were placed on the Christmas Tree in the lobby and staff were encouraged to select a name and grant a wish. Within just a few days, all the small red and gold balls were swooped up and on Monday December 23, enthusiastic volunteers delivered box loads of prettily wrapped gifts to the children at the home. The Christmas joy was also shared with the little ones who were patients at hospitals in Region South, who received goodies at the Christmas Eve treats held at the Spanish Town, May Pen, Mandeville and Black River Hospitals. Tying off a great season of sharing, Region East gave the JPS Foundation quite the Christmas gift when it presented $30,200 raised through staff contributions! We thank everyone for their generosity and look forward to partnering with you in 2014!

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