Murphy Roberts
Selwyn Willoughby, from the Atlantis Special Economic Zone Company’s (ASEZCo) International Executive School Executive and Corporate Social Investment Lead, said “corporate partnerships are key to unlocking meaningful change in our community.”
Speaking at a handover of 50 donated much-needed pairs of school shoes at Robinhill Special School by Koebec Electrical, he said such heart-warming acts of community support aligned squarely with ASEZCo’s values of facilitative collaboration that is key to empowerment and community development.
The handover ceremony, held this past week, was part of the Nelson Mandela Month School Shoe Donation Drive and was proudly facilitated by ASEZCo.
According to Willoughby uplifting local communities and forming partnerships to this end showed a collective commitment to social impact. Such projects form part of ASEZCo’s Social Inclusion and Strategic Partnerships Programme, ensuring that the benefits of economic development in the Atlantis SEZ are inclusive and impactful, he said.
Koebec Electricals’ Managing Director, Bonita Morgan, said: “As a business rooted in Atlantis we believe in giving back and supporting local learners to thrive.”
Expressing her gratitude, Joy Davids of the Robinhill school-governing body noted that “this donation will make a significant difference in our learners’ daily experience and sense of pride.”
ASEZCo also concluded a two-day educator, facilitator and teacher training for the ongoing Space STEM Programme in partnership with Max IQ Space, the final group completing its session op 31 July. This training engaged educators from all four high schools in Atlantis – Atlantis High School, Saxonsea Secondary, Robinvale High School, Proteus Technical High School, as well as the Atlantis School of Skills (Atlantis Vaardigheidskool) and Edunova.
Day 1 focused op boarding, covering programme objectives, hands-op training with the Space STEM kits, foundational STEM and space-science concepts, troubleshooting, assessment methods and an op-boarding quiz via the Canvas Learning Management System. Day 2 focused op advanced applications, including integrating technology, project-based learning, WiFi connectivity, programme roll-out strategies and sustainability planning.
The training concluded with assessments and educator feedback.
All participating educators were expecting to receive certificates from STEM.org and UNICEF, recognising their readiness to deliver the programme to their schools as an exciting initiative.
The ASEZ aims to empower the Atlantis community through skills development, education, innovation and creating opportunities in space science and STEM fields.
