Wednesday marked the second day of ‘Character Day’ training for over 150 Bahamian educators at Sandals Royal Bahamian. Character Day, a collaboration between the PACE Foundation (Providing Access to Continued Education), Bahamas AIDS Foundation, Lyford Cay Foundation’s FOCUS, Sandals Foundation, Commonwealth Bank and First Trust Bank Limited (FTBL) Charitable Foundation, is an international project led by the Emmy-nominated studio, Let It Ripple.
There were four workshops held in August (24th and 30th in New Providence, 25th in Abaco and the 31st Grand Bahama) designed to provide training on character education for children with personal life and learning difficulties.
The participants, inclusive of Patricia Minnis, wife of Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, heard from Bahamian speakers with expertise in one or more areas of character development and education, and also viewed and discussed the science of character.
Sonia Brown of the PACE Foundation comments, “We’re very happy that the Character Day program was able to be bigger and better than last year.
This time around we made sure to be inclusive of educators from our family islands so the turnout was fantastic.
We’re also very thankful to Sandals for hosting us and giving us a great space for the workshop.”
Heidi Clarke, director of programs for the Sandals Foundation commented, “Of course we’re always happy to continue to work with PACE and its affiliates.
Character Day training is a useful tool to continue to improve the education system in The Bahamas, and we at the Sandals Foundation will always give full support for such efforts.”
Characters Day is a free day and global initiative where school districts, individual classrooms, companies, organizations, and families -- groups of all sizes -- screen films (from the Character website) on the science of character development from different perspectives, dive into free printed discussion materials catered to different ages, and join an online global Q&A conversation featuring prominent leaders discussing the importance of developing character strengths (resilience, grit, empathy, courage, kindness)--all rooted in evidence-based research.
Since its inception in 2013 there have been over 93,000 Character Day events in 124 countries around the world.
Sonia Brown (left) Charlene Carey (right) of the PACE Foundation are pictured with Lazar Charlton, Public Relations Manager at Sandals Royal Bahamian during a Character Day training program recently held for educators.
About the Sandals Foundation
The Sandals Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was created to continue and to expand upon the philanthropic work that Sandals Resorts International has undertaken. It is the culmination of three decades of dedication to playing a meaningful role in the lives of the communities where we operate across the Caribbean. The Sandals Foundation funds projects in three core areas: education, community and the environment. One hundred percent of the monies contributed by the general public to the Sandals Foundation go directly to programs benefiting the Caribbean community.
