Photo by Sarah Merly
Key Points
- Clay Springs Elementary and Apopka community donated about $2,000 worth of sports equipment shipped to three primary schools in Jamaica on May 22.
- Aden Jackson's family has lengthy ties to Penlyne Castle Primary, where his parents and sister taught and he also attended and taught.
- Students packaged equipment and wrote letters of encouragement; Jackson hopes to expand the donation project annually with more aid like food and clothing.
Clay Springs Elementary physical education coach Aden Jackson, after spearheading a donation project for Jamaica last school year, shared his love for and ties to the Caribbean island nation with members of the GFWC Apopka Woman’s Club on Wednesday.
Jackson’s Wednesday presentation followed a $350 donation from the club this spring to cover the cost of shipping donated sports equipment to three primary schools in Jamaica. Jackson and his family have longstanding connections with Penlyne Castle Primary School in particular.
“Both my parents taught at this school. My father was the principal, and he served at that school for 39 years,” he said. “My mom — she also taught at that school for about 32 or 28 years…And I have a sister — she resides in the U.K. now — she taught at that school, and I grew up — I attended that school, and I also taught there before coming to America.”
Jackson said he “saw the need of giving back because the kids there, they are deprived from a certain equipment needed to enhance their physical well-being.”
“We had like 60 kids in one PE class, and we have like 60 balls we could give to every kid. When I’m there [in Jamaica], one ball would serve for like 70 kids — one ball,” he said. “As much as these equipments are already used, if these kids could only get them, they would be so much happier.”
Clay Springs students and members of the Apopka community helped provide approximately $2,000 worth of donated sports equipment for the project. Jackson credited Clay Springs parent engagement liaison Christine Muchow with creating “the master plan.”
“As part of this project, our students are collecting, sorting, and packaging donated sports equipment to send to the schools in the Blue Mountains,” Muchow wrote in an April 21 letter asking for help with shipping costs. “They are also writing heartfelt letters of encouragement and goodwill to accompany each shipment — messages meant to uplift, inspire, and build connections between children across borders.”
The equipment was sent to Jamaica on May 22. Jackson said he would be “interested” in making the donation drive an annual tradition “if it’s possible.”
“It was just the beginning — it was just like a trial, more emotional connection, just giving back something,” he said. “But if we can plan effectively and gather more things of a wider range, not only books, but say — food is something that I’m sure they will also welcome. If we can make food packages when they get there to different families and they take them home, or clothing, anything, we can think outside of just sporting equipment.”