Lawrence T. Gay Memorial hosts Fun Day

Despite yesterday’s grey skies, the students of Lawrence T. Gay Memorial School were in high spirits as they enjoyed their Health and Disabilities Awareness Day.

Deborah Stoute-Burke, Senior Teacher and Public Relations Officer told The Barbados Advocate that the idea of yesterday’s awareness day was a result of them aiming to look at healthy, physical activity with their students. She noted that since the school’s theme this year was “Working Together to Build Strong Communities” they sought to include members of the disability community as well.

She revealed that they had persons from the Cancer Society, Kidney Association, Endometriosis Association, Asthma Association and persons offering alternative medicines in attendance as well.

She noted that they also had aerobics sessions led by Westbury Primary School Teacher, Dario Stoute, and line dancing.

The PRO expressed that it was their hope to introduce children to persons with disabilities in society and show them that those persons still had a role to play in the community and wider society.

“We also involved parents in the day. So, it’s like a community outreach because we realise that when we involve the parents in these activities we get a better response from parents when it comes to checking in on how their children are performing, and they feel more comfortable to come in and talk about their children’s progress,” she said.

She added that on top of the physical activity the children were going to be involved in, they were also going to be exposed to healthy food options as they would be encouraged to eat natural foods and drink water and natural juices.

She went on to explain that the reason they chose to include persons of the disability community to be part of their fun day was because they realised that the children were becoming more aware of persons with disabilities, and they are hoping to play a significant role in helping to sensitise students.

“We found that our children, because of the community we live in, are more aware of persons with disabilities and we also have a volunteer who is with us every day, ‘Aunty Fay’, and as part of our outreach programme she’s here on a regular basis,” she said.
“So disability is not new to this school and we are hoping to play our part in sensitising our children and making them more aware.”