MONTEGO BAY, St James — While others were having fun during the summer holiday, a group of teachers and students at the Herbert Morrison Technical High School undertook a colossal project to repair the school’s furniture.

Thanks to the hard-working unit, the school was adequately furnished for the start of the 2015/2016 school year, a stark contrast to a Kingston high school that was recently highlighted in the media for a shortage of furniture, which resulted in some students missing most school days.

According to industrial technology teacher Kevin Coke, who spearheaded the renovation exercise, over 100 of the 800 pieces of furniture — including desks and chairs that were repaired — are now in storage at the institution.

“There were a lot of damaged furniture that were in need of repairs and spraying, so we undertook a project [to repair] a total of 800 pieces of furniture, including desk and chairs. We repaired and sprayed them and they were [placed] back into the classroom. After finishing the furniture repairs we had over 100 pieces left that are not being utilised at the moment. That project was successful,” Coke told the Jamaica Observer.

He said that principal Paul Adams was supportive and instrumental in the implementation of the project from which students got a stipend. The material to repair the furniture was also bought out of the school’s resources, Coke told the Sunday Observer.

The teacher, who is a past student of the institution, stated that there was a overwhelming show of interest by industrial technology students.

“There was no difficulty getting the students to buy into the project. They approached me. I wanted to work with five, 10 showed up. And I just had to work with them. There were even more who wanted to come on the project but we couldn’t afford to pay so much at one time,” Coke explained.

He noted that the project was a win-win for both students and the institution.

“The students got a lot of experience from it. They enjoyed it, otherwise from enjoying it they learnt some skills they wouldn’t have learnt in the regular day class in terms of spraying. And they got a [feel] of what it is like in the real world to work,” Coke explained.

He said that industrial technology teachers Benjamin Street and Brian Burke, who are also Herbert Morrison past students, were part of the team on the project.

“When Mr Coke would have completed the frame, then they would have been sent over to this shop and then myself and Mr Burke and the other students would have completed the top, in terms of cutting them to size. After cutting them to size, we ensured that the edges are round in terms of safety, installing them… and then we do the finishing in terms of sanding and spraying,” Street said.

He added: “When we look at the project from the start to the finish we could have seen manufacturing at its best; when you talk about production line that was exactly what was happening. The students understood. They could have seen it clearly, manufacturing at its best.”

On completion of the repairs, Coke said, “we moved on to another project in which we constructed a [metal] rail which connected the grade 11 and 12 block.

“Again the team rallied around, we designed, constructed and fitted everything from scratch for the rail,” he said.

In the meantime, Byfield Boothe, a senior teacher at the school who taught Coke, Burke and Street as students, said that there is a sense of pride among students who participated in the project, which inspires them to preserve the fruits of their labour.

“The good thing about it is when the students who work on the programme come to school, knowing that they did something and what happen is that they will help the other students to understand that they need to care the furniture,” Boothe said.

On another note, he said that over the years, students have been required to make things for SBAs that were of no benefit to the school.

“What we did is we made things that were beneficial to the school. The SBA for the mechanical industry they made chairs that could be used in classes. We made picnic benches so that the students have it. They still use them during breaks. I think that’s what CXC should do, allow the children to make things that are beneficial to the schools,” Boothe said.