Community Multimedia Centre, ROOTS FM’s Rapping with Schools
23-02-2007 (Kingston)
“School Rap” is the latest radio programme on ROOTS 96.1FM aimed at showcasing the talent and achievements of students attending high schools located in urban inner-city communities in Kingston, St. Andrew and St. Catherine, Jamaica.
The programme is an initiative of the community radio station with main sponsor UNESCO coming on board to fund the pilot project which has so far been broadcast live from Haile Selassie High (Payne Land), Penwood Secondary (Olympic Way) and Vauxhall Secondary (Windward Road).
The “School Rap” series is part of ROOTS FM’s mission to use radio as a social development tool to empower inner-city residents to take responsibility for their own destinies by pursuing talents, building entrepreneurial skills and developing a spirit of co-operation within communities.
The focus on students comes as a result of recent statistics that consistently show an abnormally high percentage of youth involved in risky and hazardous behaviour including drug abuse and various forms of violence including murder.
The programme format includes motivational talks from corporate personalities who have successfully fought the odds despite humble beginnings; presentations on career opportunities through the HEART Trust and various professional bodies, self expressions during which students display their talents in the performing arts, as well as interviews with students who have excelled in any area of school life.
According to ROOTS’ General Manager, Rosamond Brown, the pilot is an important first step in developing the programme. “School Rap” has been an eye opener. We don’t talk enough about the phenomenon of the Haile Selassie badminton team and the school’s ground-breaking tilapia rearing project or about the Vauxhall School Band and the impressive discipline and orderliness of the students there in spite of the school’s vulnerability to acts of violence. Excellent things are happening in our schools and ROOTS wants to be at the forefront in portraying positive images of the inner-city”.
The “School Rap” series is part of ROOTS FM’s mission to use radio as a social development tool to empower inner-city residents to take responsibility for their own destinies by pursuing talents, building entrepreneurial skills and developing a spirit of co-operation within communities.
The focus on students comes as a result of recent statistics that consistently show an abnormally high percentage of youth involved in risky and hazardous behaviour including drug abuse and various forms of violence including murder.
The programme format includes motivational talks from corporate personalities who have successfully fought the odds despite humble beginnings; presentations on career opportunities through the HEART Trust and various professional bodies, self expressions during which students display their talents in the performing arts, as well as interviews with students who have excelled in any area of school life.
According to ROOTS’ General Manager, Rosamond Brown, the pilot is an important first step in developing the programme. “School Rap” has been an eye opener. We don’t talk enough about the phenomenon of the Haile Selassie badminton team and the school’s ground-breaking tilapia rearing project or about the Vauxhall School Band and the impressive discipline and orderliness of the students there in spite of the school’s vulnerability to acts of violence. Excellent things are happening in our schools and ROOTS wants to be at the forefront in portraying positive images of the inner-city”.
Students at Vauxhall Secondary SchoolRelated themes/countries
· Jamaica
· CMC: News Archives 2007
· Youth and ICT: News Archives 2007
· Access to Information: News Archives 2007
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Contact information
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Contact
- Alton Grizzle, UNESCO Office in Kingston
- Isidro Fernandez Aballi, UNESCO Office in Kingston
- Rosamond Brown
- UNESCO Caribbean Office
Source
- UNESCO Caribbean Office
Field office