The Vivien Vanterpool Primary School makes news again, for the third time in as many weeks. On Monday morning, September 21st, during the assembly session, Premier Dr. Ellis Webster was on hand to speak briefly to the students while making a presentation of seven water fountains, one for each class.
At the same time, a fourth grade student’s parent, Mr. Wilson Jno-baptiste, who is a gifted software engineer, joined in to present a computerised register that would more efficiently keep track of teachers’ attendance and their engagements at school.
With respect to the fountains, the Premier made his noble gesture of goodwill as a social contribution to his constituency, after being approached by one of the teachers, Ms. Akilah Thompson. She felt passionate about the children’s health and wellbeing during these hot, thirst-prone, days at school.
The idea of obtaining the fountains was initiated during a PTA meeting when the subject of the children’s need to be properly hydrated during these hot school-days was raised — according to the Principal, Mrs. Mavis Fleming-Drakes.
She explained: “Sometime recently, we had a PTA meeting and we were concerned that many of the children were not bringing water to school. The school does not really offer a supply of drinking water for the students. We sent WhatsApp messages to several parents encouraging then to give their children adequate water to bring to school, but many of them came without.
“Considering how hot the weather is nowadays we, as teachers, were quite concerned. Then, one of our caring teachers, Ms. Akilah Thompson, promised that she would contact Dr. Ellis to see if he would be willing to benevolently help in the situation. Within a couple days we were happy, and delighted, to receive these seven fountains, each complete with a supply of water.”
In handing over the fountains, the Premier said to the students, in part: “I am happy to be here this morning because this is the school that helped to make me who I am. It should be your pleasure to be able to go to school here with a beautiful cool beach in the background. When Teacher Akila called me and requested the fountains, because you lacked water, I became very concerned.”
“In these hot days, and in this time of pandemic,” the doctor said, “you need to make sure that you are properly hydrated by drinking sufficient water. So I was pleased to donate these fountains so that you would keep healthy. As a doctor, I could not do less than respond positively because I do care about your health. It is necessary that you drink enough water. I want to make sure that you all stay healthy and safe.”
In presenting the automated teachers’ register to the teachers, Mr. Wilson Jon Baptiste stated: “I am glad to be able to present this register, and I hope that it will serve in providing more efficient recording of teachers’ availability. I have a daughter in Grade Four here, and my background is in software development. I was motivated to devise this technology and present it because I noticed that teachers spend a lot of time logging their time management details in a book. So, it is my pleasure to handover this device today, and I trust that it will be used to make the recording of teachers’ time much easier.”
Mr. Jno Baptiste is the creator of the software Punchclock AI. He explained: “This is a new innovative timekeeping software that lets any school track when teachers arrive and leave the school. It is a simple, user-friendly device equipped with some clever programming.” He noted that time-tracking had long been a challenge for teachers across the island, as the clock-in and clock-out times are mostly written in a book, and transferred line by line to a spreadsheet, before being finally sent to the Education Department. “This new system,” Mr. Jno Baptiste claimed, “automates this entire process.”
On behalf of the teachers and students, Principal Mavis Fleming-Drakes expressed hearty thanks to both the Premier and Mr. Jno Baptiste. She said: “We are sincerely grateful for these valuable gifts, and I will assure that both the water fountains and the teachers’ register will be properly used and taken care of.”
– Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
