The Kingston College Library & Technology Capital Campaign has received US$180,000 in donation and pledges after holding two donor conferences in Philadelphia and New York in September and October respectively. The goal is to raise US$302,650. Bryan Grant of Premier Financial Group Inc. hosted the Philadelphia leg.
Mr. Basil Anderson and the Matalon family are the leadoff donors, pledging US$50,000 each.
The main objective of the campaign is to complete the Douglas Forrest Building, provide libraries, technology resource centers, additional classrooms and teacher incentive programs for both campuses.
The campaign is organized and spearheaded by Kingston College Old Boys’ Association USA Inc. (KCOBA USA Inc.)
The New York donor conference was held on Sunday, October 20, 2013. After opening remarks by Rainford “Perry” Bloomfield, NY Chapter President, the keynote speakers, Principal Dave Myrie and Mr. Basil Anderson were introduced.
Mr. Myrie’s speech was captivating and if he had not given us his bio, we would have sworn he was a KC Old Boy. His vision is for KC to be number one in all areas within three years. Under his leadership, Melbourne has been upgraded with new tiles, desk and chairs, fenced field, building repairs etc., He is of the opinion that Melbourne is where parents are first introduced to Kingston College so we have to make the campus presentable.
The North Street campus has “temporary” classroom space expansion to house additional sixth form classes. The additional classrooms allow us to increase the six-form body from 123 last school year to177 this school year, an increase of over 40%. Still the school had to turn away potential sixth form students because of lack of available space. This situation highlights the importance of making the Library & Technology Capital Campaign a success. We have to keep our brightest students instead of them going to other schools to finish sixth form.
Mr. Basil Anderson grew up in a small town in St. Elizabeth. Getting a scholarship to KC was the key to his accomplishments and escape out of poverty. His life story is similar to many that walk through the halls of KC and proof of the success of Bishop Gibson’s vision of giving members of the lower class a chance to climb the Jamaican economic and social ladder.
The North Street library will be housed in the Douglas Forrest Building and will be named the Eli Matalon library in honour of the now deceased KC Old Boy who at one time served as Jamaica’s Minister of National Security, Education Minister and Chairman of KC’s Board of Governors.
A world-class library along with technological learning capability is important for research, learning and academic growth. Teacher incentive is also a necessity if we hope to retain and attract the best teachers.
To show its appreciation, the board of Kingston College has agreed that the names of old boys who donate US$2,500 or more will be etched in the main hall of the completed Douglas Forrest Building.
The success of this campaign is important in many ways. It is to help with the drive to make KC the number one school in all areas, from academics to sports and we cannot associate anything with the name Douglas Forrest to be a failure. We beseech all members of the Kingston College family to join force and make this a resounding success.
Please join the campaign today. You can donate as follows:
Mail checks payable to KCOBA USA Inc. (Memo: (KC Library & Technology Campaign (KCLTC)):
KCOBA USA Inc.
P.O. Box 3917
New York, NY 10185
or
Online at: http://www.kcobany.org/donations.aspx