Special education school unlocks potential in students

Dave Lindo, Gleaner WriterMANDEVILLE, Manchester:THE WOODLAWN School of Special Education in Mandeville has been catering to the needs of students with intellectual disabilities in central Jamaica for more than 43 years.
The first branch of the institution was opened as The School of Hope in 1950 in Kingston by Randolph Lopez, who was driven to establish the school because of his daughter, who had Down's syndrome. It was the first school of its kind in Jamaica.
"He imported teachers from England because he believed that these children, although they had their challenges, needed to be educated also, and he saw the need for his daughter, Clara," Yvonne Snowball, principal of Woodlawn School of Special Education, told The Gleaner.
The school expanded to other areas in Kingston and later to all the parishes in Jamaica. The Manchester branch was established in Mandeville in 1969 at the Mandeville Parish Church.
It was later relocated to the manse of the parish church on deCarteret Road, then its present location at Woodlawn, after the land was acquired by friends of the institution.
SCHOOL RENAMED
The school was recently renamed Woodlawn School of Special Education and is a Government-aided institution. It operates under the umbrella of the Jamaica Association of Intellectual Disabilities. It caters to students between the ages of six and 20 years old.
"Our students come from all around Manchester as well as the bordering parishes of Clarendon, Trelawny, St Ann, and St Elizabeth," Snowball said.
"It is a secondary composite school, meaning that we have primary-level students and secondary-level in terms of their ages."
Students are taught in the areas of literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies, among other subjects.
"In our method of teaching, we meet their level of development," Snowball said. "So we are not going to do chemistry in science, but we deal with the sciences that will help them personally. In social studies, we teach things that will help in their daily living skills - where they live, places in their communities, that sort of thing."
The students at Woodlawn also do very well in sports. "Physical education is big here," vice-principal Christopher Turner said.
"We have Special Olympians who have done very well. We have staff and students who went to France, (South) Korea, China, Greece, and the USA. Last time, [it] was a Winter Games in Korea, where they (students) played various games."
STRONG IN AGRICULTURE
The school is also strong in the area of agriculture, where the teacher, Delroy Campbell, is doing a great job with the students.
"We recently reaped 100lb of cabbage and tomatoes. They just put back some string beans," Snowball said. "We recently built a rabbit hutch, and at the bottom, we would like some money to make an area to put in some chickens."
Students also do well in areas such as woodwork and needlework; however, there is no designated area for these courses - one of the challenges the school is facing.
Snowball said: "We have a serious space problem. If this school is to be a composite secondary, and it is to be operated as the name suggests, we need a vocational centre established here for the children."
She added: "After they have gone to the secondary level, they need to be properly channelled and challenged because this is where they are going to be readied for skills and prepared for the world of work."
Turner said many of the students have gone on to further their education at places such as the HEART Trust/NTA and have also got jobs in various fields.
"We have a past student who is a truck driver now. There are so many possibilities."
rural@gleanerjm.com