JPS Foundation Connection June 2014 by Jamaica Public Service

THE JPS FOUNDATION

A PUBLICATION OF THE JPS FOUNDATION

NO. 6

JUNE 2014

WWW.MYJPSFOUNDATION.ORG

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2. EDUCATION

ON TUESDAY May 6, JPS volunteers became engaging storytellers as they shared magical moments reading with students at several basic schools. In Region East, team members from the KSAS and KSAN branches ventured to the Rennock Lodge All Age School, where they read to the tiny tots in the infant department. Over in the West, schools in three parishes were visited by an enthused group of volunteers who read at the Lucea Pre and Prep School in Hanover (Falmouth) Infant School (Trelawny) and the Mount side Primary School (St. Elizabeth). In Region Central, the joy of reading was spread to six schools in four parishes, including the Bridgeport and Ebonyvale Baptist Basic Schools (St. Catherine), May Pen Primary and York Town Basic Schools (Clarendon), Miracle Tabernacle Basic School (St. Ann) and Devon Primary School (Mandeville). For Projects and Logistics Officer, Troy Allen, reading to the York Town students was very fulfilling. “It was great being around the children. It’s been a while since I did something like this and it was a very fulfilling experience. The children received us well.” 

3. EDUCATION

TEAM JPS was out in full force giving back to scores of teachers on their very special Teacher’s Day, celebrated May 7. The treats followed the previous day’s ‘Read Across Jamaica Day’ visits to select schools across the island when staff read with the students. Region Central toasted educators at the Clarendon-based JPS Foundation Model School Project, York Town Basic School, as

well as the Salvation Army Basic School (St. Ann), El Insitituto (Mandeville) and Bright Beginnings Educational Center (St. Catherine). A similar outreach was conducted in Region East, where KSAS Parish Manager, Phillip Jarrett, presented the teacher in the infant department of the Rennock Lodge Basic School with a gift package. Team Morant Bay, headed by St. Thomas Parish

Manager Oswald Smiley, also showed their appreciation to teachers with a visit to the El Shaddai Learning Center in Yallahs. Not to be left out, Region West celebrated the teachers at the Montego Bay Christian Academy in St. James with presentations of goodies. The JPS Foundation thanks all our volunteers for helping to inspire and improve the lives of our students and teachers. 

4. YOUTH LEADERSHIP

FOLLOWING A brief hiatus to allow our girls to prep for and complete exams, the JPS Foundation Young Women Leaders programme got back on track with a special Double Power Session on Friday May 16. The ladies enjoyed an afternoon outside of the JPS Boardroom when they visited with four powerful women at the head offices of the Gleaner Company and Scotiabank. At the Gleaner, media dynamos Jenni Campbell and Phyllis Thomas schooled the young women on important do’s and don’ts for today’s media-savvy leader and how to maximise and maintain high-level relationships in the corporate world. Then at Scotiabank, Patsy LatchmanAtterbury and Tamiko Sadler spoke to financial independence for women, guiding them through several critical steps to achieving this, as well as how to manage debt. See next page for some of the lessons shared. 

CAPTION: The young leaders pay close attention to Jenni Campbell at the Gleaner (above) and Tamiko Sadler at Scotiabank.

5. YOUTH LEADERSHIP

OUR YOUNG Women Leaders participants got invaluable information on managing media relations and wealth creation during a Double Power Session on Friday May 16. And now, you

can benefit from some of the lessons shared by the Gleaner’s Jenni Campbell and Phyllis Thomas and Scotiabank’s, Patsy Latchman-Atterbury and Tamiko Sadler. Go on, take notes!

The media are powerful tools in your hands. Here are 10 ways to successfully relate to the media and use them to advance not just your growth as leaders but the people whose path you will cross.

Managing your personal finances is important to your comfort and peace of mind. It’s not often easy given income earned, but it’s definitely not impossible to be financially healthy. Here are three (3) critical lessons.

Budgeting

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Know the reporter who is responsible for your area of interest. Make yourself available to the reporter. Sometimes reporters have difficulty making contact with leaders, even though it’s in the interest of the leader to be available Be aware of how you can use the media to your advantage. You will have to be able to successfully sell your idea to them. Ensure you have something of news value, that’s always a hook. Find out about the various features that the media produce that you can utilise to get your messages or information across When you call a press conference, make sure it is one of substance! Be prepared to answer searching questions. Come with data. Know that you need the media to reach your publics. Be aware that the public consumes your information through the media. Don’t give same interviews and information to competing media! Never try to bribe media personnel with food, cash or kind. The media are multi-dimensional so as a leader never make the mistake of confusing the news media with public relations.

The 50/20/30 Rule 50% of your income should go towards paying for the absolute necessities of life—your essential expenses such as housing, food, clothing, transport and utilities. 20% of your income should be directed towards things you must do but wouldn't die or be homeless without. This should be paid after essentials. 30% of your income is where you can make the most difference in your budget as this goes towards voluntary obligations that enhance your lifestyle.

Saving Some things to consider:  Retirement Savings  Automating Savings  Asset purchase and replacement  Emergency Funds

Debt Management Debt is not always a bad thing. In fact, there are instances where the leveraging power of a loan actually helps put you in a better overall position for things like:  Buying a home  Buying a car  Financing your studies 

6. COMMUNITY

Kelly Tomblin shares something fun with one of the participants.

JPS PRESIDENT & CEO, Kelly Tomblin, headed a team of JPS volunteers who on Saturday May 17 assisted in the eighth session of the ‘ReBirth Project’, a programme reaching out to and changing the lives of ‘at risk’ girls and boys between the ages of 13 and 14 attending the Tivoli and Norman Manley High Schools. Volunteers assisted workshop presenters and organising team, monitored students and encouraged participation. Ms. Tomblin was one of the featured speakers who addressed small groups of parents and students for 30 minutes each on the topic of ‘How I Made It’. The JPS head was well supported by her team who has loyally assisted with the project since its inception. 

7. COMMUNITY

FROM MAKING long-held dreams come true at the Muirton Boys Home in Portland to literally brightening the space used by female inmates at the Porus Police Station in Manchester, the JPS team made an unforgettable difference on Labour Day, Friday May 23. The company’s network of Volunteers On Location To Serve (VOLTS) were out in full force in various communities within JPS’ operational parishes, working side by side with residents to fulfil the national day’s theme – ‘Take a Stand, Beautify our Land’. Armed with an array of requisite tools and

bedecked in their yellow shirts, the JPS teams enthusiastically toiled to enhance several facilities island-wide, including seven schools, one child care institution, and four police stations. According to Manager of the JPS Foundation, Ms. Nathelie Taylor, the large attention paid to educational facilities was based on the Foundation’s core focus of education. “In partial fulfillment of our promise to provide the best possible learning environments for our students, we decided to place most of our attention this Labour Day

on schools. “And so we selected four early childhood institutions, one primary school, one teacher’s college and our Homework Centre in St. James among our extensive list of projects.” The company also teamed with the parish councils in Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth, Manchester and St. Thomas to carry out restorative work at four police stations within those areas. Read more about the special Portland and Manchester projects on Pages 5 and 6 and please also enjoy pictorial highlights of several other projects on Page 6.

8. COMMUNITY

THE STORY is told of a young resident of the Muirton Boys Home in Portland who would regularly clear the grass at the same spot in the yard, declaring on each occasion that this is where he would get married. From that romantic seed blossomed the thought to build an actual structure where such an occasion – and other happy moments – could be experienced at the facility. In December 2012, this dream of having a gazebo built on that spot was shared with the Portland JPS team and this Labour Day, the dream was delivered, much to the delight of everyone at the home. Interim Manager at the Home, Mrs. Esther Gooden, was unreserved in expressing her pleasure. “It’s a wonderful thing that JPS has done for us. The gazebo will be well utilised, especially in the coming summer months. It’s in a scenic position and comfortable, so the boys

can relax, play board games and just use it to escape from the maddening crowd, so to speak. We can also have one-on-one sessions with the boys. A CDA officer from the region visited us recently and was so impressed by it, he said we needed another one!” The home’s residents also love it. Fifteen year old Michael*, for instance, declares happily that “it is very nice because I fell asleep under there.” EVERYONE’S PROJECT Construction of the gazebo was a project that almost everyone at the JPS Portland office had a hand in. According to JPS Portland Manager, Detommie Sergeant, the team started focusing on it from early April 2014. On Wednesday May 21, they started preliminary work on the roof, which was completed the following evening. Early on

the morning of Labour Day the team transported the roof to the location, working from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. to complete the remainder of the gazebo. Sergeant notes that “It was a fulfilling day. Every team member got involved. Ladies were even cutting down bushes and trimming trees that were impeding the view of the sea. And everyone worked while interacting with the boys and further strengthening the relationship we have built with them. The staff were very proud of the finished product. “We hope that it will be a space where the boys can have a moment to think big and continue dreaming big dreams. As they sit in their gazebo and look across at the vast ocean and sky we hope they will see that while they may start out at this small Muirton Pen district, the possibility for them to go far is boundless.”

9. COMMUNITY

FOR WOMEN’S HOLDING AREA AT THE PORUS POLICE STATION

THE WORLD features an abundance of beautiful, breathtaking colours of multiple hues and tones which help to drive positive emotions. Through the intervention of the JPS Manchester office and its social friends - Jamaica National, Cameron Industries, NSWMA, Custos for Manchester, Sally Porteous - this colour therapy is now being activated at the Porus Police Station for the benefit of abused women and children who are often housed there. Women and children are kept there for their own protection against abusive spouses/family members and there is nowhere else designated in the parish to accommodate them.

environment. And so on Labour Day, the restorative work began. The black was turned to blue, a fitting shade which is known to promote among other things - calm, peace, relaxation, slowing down, steadying, selfexpression. But the colour transformation was just part of the group’s overall enhancement of the facility as JPS also furnished a basin and plumbing supplies to help enhance the er (no tiling) and a toilet. bathroom. Parish Manager Ava Tomlin recalls her and While the urgency of this situation has her team’s reaction. been satisfactorily met, the work is “I was in shock. I remember clearly no one expected to continue, with the medium wanted to go into the bathroom. I took ac- term project being to build a separate area tual measurements of the area but I estito house the abused women and their mated the bathroom and the shower area children. HEART RENDING (for the tiling) as I did not feel comfortable Across the parish, JPS has maintained a When the JPS team – along with – visited even entering that space.” good relationship with the police who prothe jailhouse, they walked in a heartShe further shares a comment by one of vide strong support to the Field Service rending situation which unfortunately marks her staff which stuck with her - “this is dou- team in the fight against theft of electricity the norm in many other lock-ups across the ble punishment to place an abused spouse by accompanying them on ‘strike force’ island. in a place like this.” events. Black coated the walls of the cells, which A decision was immediately made. No Additionally, JPS has donated to the Area had little ventilation/light. The “beds’ were woman or child who had no committed no Three Sports Day over the past two years actually two wide concrete slabs. The bath- crime should be subjected to hide from their and in 2013, they donated bicycles to that room comprised of a moldy concrete show- oppressors in such a depressive police department. 

10. COMMUNITY

LABOUR DAY ACTION IN: (Clockwise from top left) Westmoreland; Clarendon; St. Thomas; St. Elizabeth; Kingston and Trelawny

THE JPS FOUNDATION

THE JPS FOUNDATION CELEBRATES IT’S FIRST ANNIVERSARY IN AUGUST (YAAAAY US!). YOU’VE HELPED US DO AMAZING THINGS SNCE 2013! NOW, HELP US CELEBRATE IN A MEANINGFUL WAY PLEASE HELP US SELECT OUR SPECIAL

HERE’S HOW: BY 4:00 P.M. ON FRIDAY JULY 11, SUBMIT A DETAILED PROJECT PROPOSAL WHICH SHOULD HIGHLIGHT THE ENHANCEMENT OF A SCHOOL’S ENERGY EDUCATION/ CONSERVATION EFFORTS. THEN ON FRIDAY JULY 18, THE FOUNDATION’S TOP 3 PICKS WILL BE POSTED FOR YOU TO SELECT THE PROJECT MOST DESERVING OF ACTIVATION ON FRIDAY AUGUST 22, 2014. PLEASE CONTACT THE JPS FOUNDATION AT 935-3514 or nataylor@jpsco.com FOR MORE DETAILS.

12.

ENERGY ACADEMY

7. YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

JPS ENGINEERS, Renaldo Chambers and Courtney Brown have proven the power of mentorship to make positive changes to someone else’s life. The duo are the proud Energy Mentors who guided young Darielle Edwards to sweet science victory in the Wolmer’s Prep School ’Young Innovators and Inventors Competition’ during the school’s Annual Science Fair held in late April. Driven by a curiosity and passion for science, she first entered the competition in 2012 and won first prize for her grade and was recognised as ‘Best Presenter’ for the Volcano she created. She again entered in Grade Four by producing a Water Cycle for which she also won first prize for her grade and the ‘Most Creative’ honour. Now on her third attempt, the fifth grader swept aside her competitors to claim the top spot and several other category prizes with her Hydro Electric Power Supply solution at the annual event. “In class we were talking about energy and I thought it was a

good idea to do something in energy for the science fair. So I chose to focus on hydropower which is the form of energy that most excited me,” she explains. She had the full support of her mom, Charlene Levy; her mom’s co-workers, family friends and, of course, Chambers and Brown. “I wish I had more time with my JPS mentors but I got great advice which was beneficial.” Both men were impressed with Edwards. According to Brown, “She was very intelligent and enthused about her idea. It was great working with her.” Chambers shares that “Darielle’s passion towards science and energy was inspiring. Her appreci“Darielle’s ation shown to the passion towards help that was offered science and energy was also quite was inspiring. Her humbling for me.”  appreciation shown CAPTION: Renaldo Chambers with a beaming Darielle and her cache of prizes.

to the help that was offered was also quite humbling for me.” - Chambers

13.

ENERGY ACADEMY

THIS SUMMER holiday, 10 third form students at the Hampton School will experience an energy-filled break as they compete in the JPS Foundation Energy Angel Challenge. Launched at the St. Elizabeth-based school on Tuesday May 20, the competition is aimed at engendering a better informed youth group on issues of electricity theft and safety while increasing students’ awareness about energy efficiency and conservation. The students first went through an elimination round to write a 300-word essay on ‘The Impact of Electricity Theft to Jamaica’s Energy Security’, a topical issue given JPS’ recent energy curtailment exercise in Kingston and St. Catherine communities identified as high electricity theft communities. The top 10 students have been selected for the ‘battle of the bills round’, during which time they will present

their May 2014 electricity bill and employ various energy conservation methods to realise savings over the next three months. The Energy Angel will be the one whose electricity bill reflects the most savings in usage and money through energy efficient methods for the three month period of June, July and August 2014. JPS Energy Mentors will be assigned to guide these students in practicing safe energy efficiency techniques during the period. The competition is being spearheaded through the Foundation’s Energy Academy which is aimed at fostering excellence in Science and Technology in schools and facilitates energy education at all educational levels.  CAPTION JPS Region Central Director, Keith Garvey, speaks to a Hampton student following the competition’s launch at the school in May.

JPS’ Key Accounts Manager, Fabian Lyew, gets animated with students at the Reach Academy during a presentation on energy conservation. In inset, the students enthusiastically respond. The presentation was made as part of the JPS Foundation’s Energy Education thrust in schools and was held on the day of the school’s science fair (Thursday May 22) which focused on the topic of conservation. 

14.

STAFF RECOGNITION

THERE IS a Jamaican phrase that says “everywhey pan knock yu deh deh.” Well, everywhere there is an opportunity to volunteer and give back, Courtney Whyte can often be found on spot getting involved. Employed to JPS for the past four years, this easy going gentleman is much respected by his peers for his professionalism as a Customer Satisfaction Lead based at the Corporate Office and gets high commendations by the JPS Foundation for all he does in creating positive changes. Learn more about him in this issue of High VOLTage. What is your philosophy on Volunteerism? A life lived for oneself is as unfulfilling as a world without Steamed Fish and Ockro. I believe that we are put in this world to make it better than we found it and the way we do this is by empowering those that come after with the knowledge and skills that we are endowed with; whether it was passed on to us or it is that we may have learnt it through our own experiences. Volunteerism is the vehicle that is often used to impact, encourage and empower the leaders of tomorrow. If you cage a bird you will miss out on the opportunity to see it in flight. If we hold on to the gifting and the talents that we possess we would have missed out on the opportunity to have someone add something to it that could see it perfected. Why did you decide to volunteer with the JPS Foundation? I’m a sucker for causes that have a purpose! Do you volunteer outside of JPS? Yes. My life is for service, and my wife doesn’t want me in the house because the kids and I make too much noise! Would you encourage others to volunteer and why? Most definitely. There is a blessing in giving and we often realise that we learn a lot about ourselves during serving. I never learned that I could teach until I volunteered to help with some children. What are your thoughts on the JPS Foundation? I think the injection of the JPS Foundation was a well needed boost to the image of JPS as a public entity. It gives others an opportunity to see that we are not just about electricity and helps to dispel the myth that JPS ‘nuh do nutten’ fi people. We are able to say that we will provide light in more ways than one. 

HIGH VOLTage: Courtney Whyte

NOTICE THIS RED APPLE? CONNECTION

REACHES MORE THAN

3,000 READERS

IN ALL

14 PARISHES THROUGH MAJOR

MEDIA CHANNELS

ADVERTISE IN CONNECTION AND GET NOTICED TOO! BOOK your desired size ad no less than ten (10) days before the next publication date. SUBMIT artwork to foundation@jpsco.com in JPG or EPS format. Artwork must be camera-ready, at least 300 DPI resolution and emailed no less than seven (7) days before the next publication date. PAY via cheque made payable to the JPS Foundation, 6 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5. CONTACT THE JPS FOUNDATION FOR MORE DETAILS: 6 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5 935-3514/935-3531 foundation@jpsco.com nataylor@jpsco.com/slambert@jpsco.com