PHILIPSBURG--Skool Netherlands has donated twelve SkoolPad 2-in-1 laptop/tablets to Sister Basilia Centre.
The donation was made via Foresee Foundation in St. Maarten. The laptops are specifically designed for educational purposes.
The donation was announced during the Caribbean Technology and Education Conference (CTEC) held last year. Foresee Foundation President and Digikids Project Manager José Sommers met in 2015 with Paradigit shareholder Arjen de Koning, who participates yearly in the Heineken Regatta. They already had met years before and after ample research it was decided to equip the DigiKidz Schools with the Skool BV infrastructure and devices.
Based on the level of partnership with Skool BV, Sommers expressed the wish to have Skool make a donation outside the DigiKidz project for a special group of children, who are not included in the project, but who need the special care and attention of the community and business world: the clients of Sister Basilia Centre, St. Maarten’s residential and day care centre for persons with disabilities.
Skool representative Pecko Leenen, who travelled to St. Maarten for CTEC, said Skool received numerous donation requests yearly. However, the company unanimously acknowledged that this was an exceptionally good one, contributing to St. Maarten education and showing social responsibility.
“From the deepest of our heart we find that people and especially children with disabilities have abilities too. And that is what this donation should be all about: making sure those abilities blossom and shine so that all the dreams they have eventually can come true,” he said.
Sister Basilia Department Manager Carlson Richardson accepted the donation and was visibly touched by the gesture. “Seeing the ever-changing world of technology, the clients of Sister Basilia Centre can also now be equipped in utilising digital information and interactive programming in their classrooms,” he said.
Richardson is working with management to obtain client-friendly software on the devices and promised to make full use of them. He thanked Skool for the “generous donation” and showed his appreciation to Foresee Foundation, which took its projects a step further by including Sister Basilia Centre and its clients.
