Students from the BTC Scholars Programme at The College of The Bahamas joined in to give back at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company's (BTC) second annual School Aid event at Mario's Bowling and Family Entertainment Palace. The 10 students, who received academic scholarships from the telecommunications company, teamed up with BTC iVolunteers, community leaders, educational speakers and health and grooming professionals, to prepare 400 students from the Department of Social Services, Urban Renewal, Families of All Murder Victims (FOAM), and BTC's adopted Old Bight Mission Home for the new school year.
The COB scholars served as chaperones and mentors to the young students during the School Aid event. Boys received haircuts at the grooming station while girls got manicures. Dental and health screenings were also offered. Each child was able to select a book of his or her choice to take home from the bookstore, and every child left the event with a BTC backpack filled with school supplies and a $35 grocery voucher.
The children and parents were not the only ones to receive gifts. BTC also awarded each of the scholars with a $250 gift certificate to defray the costs of books and supplies.
BTC scholar Kenique Pinder, a senior in COB's psychology program, said she was excited when BTC approached her about participating in the BTC School Aid event. She said working with children is her calling.
"My passion is kids. Ever since my BTC scholarship allowed me to remain at COB, I have been pursuing a career in child psychology, so I have had a blast working with the children here today."
Fellow BTC scholar Adrian Culmer, a third-year student in COB's computer and application programming program, said that he also enjoys working with children, but his main motivation to give back is thankfulness for what he has been given.
"BTC gave so much to me. Having this BTC scholarship has empowered me to be able to focus on my education rather than worry about tuition, so I definitely want to pass that on and give back to these kids," he said.
During the event Culmer also told the children that good grades do not come easily. He encouraged them to be persistent and work toward getting those grades.
"Have discipline, keep focused and always put God first; those are my keys to success," said the BTC scholar.
Pinder, Culmer and eight other students were selected in 2013 to receive scholarships via the BTC Scholars Programme. The $250,000 program was established to provide higher education for academically qualified, but financially challenged, COB students who have graduated from public high schools in New Providence, Grand Bahama or any of the Family Islands.
Indira Collie, manager of internal communication at BTC and lead organizer of the School Aid event, said that she was happy that the BTC Scholars shared their sponsor's generosity and appreciation for the importance of education, but was not surprised.
"At BTC we recognize that education is key. We are more than happy to invest in the development of these school-age youngsters at BTC School Aid, just as we were happy to invest in the futures of our BTC scholars a year ago. The fact that our scholars recognize the value of education and have multiplied what we have given to them by giving again to these children today is a testament to the caliber of students COB chose for our program and the crucial role that corporate citizens like BTC can play in uplifting a community," said Collie.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian