Sandals Instills Importance of Goal-Setting in Whitehouse Youth

The children of the Whitehouse community recently gathered at their local gazebo for a transformative mentorship session hosted by the Sandals Montego Bay region. Guided by mentors, the children embarked on a journey of self-reflection, writing heartfelt letters to their future selves, envisioning dreams and aspirations in light of their recent Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exams.

This most recent session also serves as a collective promise to the Whitehouse community to continue the Sandals ‘Share the Love’ initiative that mentors youths in neighbouring communities in hopes of fostering positive behaviours and development.

Public Relations Coordinator of the Sandals Montego Bay region Ashley Simms, shared more on the initiative by stating, “at the first session this year, we had the children create vision boards to help them understand the importance of making and visualizing long-term goals. Many of our mentees were nervous about their Primary Exit Profile results and with this session, we wanted them to manifest their short term goals and overcome that anxiety – this time in the form of a letter to their future selves”.

“Sandals’ involvement in our community is one we cherish and appreciate; noted Beulah England-Kelly, community organizer of Whitehouse. She continued, “I love to see the children happy and this new approach to mentorship has really piqued their interest and I know they are happy which makes me happy”.

“We noticed that oftentimes when mentorship is conveyed through traditional methods to children at this age they may struggle to connect with the message or find it fun, we wanted to curtail any possible boredom by making this as active and engaging as possible and they certainly had fun in this case,” noted Simms.

In addition to the writing the letters, laughter filled the Whitehouse gazebo as the children engaged in a spirited game of Jenga, each piece a metaphor for the building blocks of their futures. The moments of shared joy and reflection served as a reminder to the volunteers of the boundless potential within every child and the importance of nurturing their dreams.

Sandals has pledged to continue their work in Whitehouse and surrounding communities to help to effect positive change for future generations through continuous mentorship and sponsorship.