TO WORK WITH GUIDANCE COUNSELLORS IN BUILDING STUDENTS’ CHARACTER
OCHO RIOS, St Ann; Oct. 3, 2025
Grade-five students at three St. Ann schools are to receive guidance and encouragement through a new Custos Commando Mentorship pilot programme, launched by the St. Ann Justices of the Peace (JP) Association.
Almost 70 JPs have volunteered to mentor students at Exchange Primary, Ocho Rios Primary, and St. John’s Preparatory schools, JIS reported.
Each JP will be paired with up to two students in need of mentorship and meet with them at least twice per month to help build their confidence, character, and readiness for their final year of primary school.
(St. Ann JP and from the Custos’ Secretariat, Monique Mitchell Stewotson, left, and JP, Pastor Maxo Dejanis, are part of the audience at the St. Ann Custos Commando JP mentorship Initiative launch, held at the Exchange Primary School Auditorium in St. Ann, on Tuesday, September 30).
The programme was launched at Exchange Primary School, Ocho Rios, on Tuesday, Spt. 30 and will run until July 2026.
Speaking of one the programme’s benefits, Custos of St Ann Joseph Issa said, “The children will have somebody other than their parent or their teacher who has gone through life and seen life to be able to lean on, to pick their brain, guide them and, hopefully, help them progress in life faster and in a better way than if they didn’t have a mentor helping.”
(Custos of St Ann, Joseph Issa (left), applauds the launch of the St. Ann Custos Commando JP mentorship Initiative. Also applauding is P and Coordinator of the mentorship initiative, Wesley Boynes).
JP and volunteer of the St. Ann JP Mentorship Initiative, Rose-Ann Virgo said she had been a mentor for years at several other schools.
“Mentorship has always been near and dear to my heart because my philosophy is to be a part of the group of persons that transform St. Ann and, in turn, transform Jamaica,” she said.
JIS reported that each volunteer is expected to submit a bimonthly update on their relationship with the mentees.
For his part, JP and Project Coordinator, Wesley Boynes, said that the project serves as a ‘connector to resources’ and an elevation in life for the mentees who will be guided by ‘well-suited’ and upstanding JPs in the community. The JPs are expected to work with the guidance counsellors of each school.
Harlene Gordon-Riley, Senior Education Officer of the Guidance Counselling Unit from Region Three, Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth, and Information, commended the programme, which she said facilitated character development.
