Last week, the halls of Jamaica House Basic School echoed with laughter and lively discussion as team members from CB Foods, the consumer division of CB Group, transformed morning classes into a dynamic storytelling workshop. The visit, staged on May 6 in observance of Read Across Jamaica Day, highlights CB Group’s wider mission to uplift communities through education and sustainable development.
Rather than a routine read‑aloud, CB Foods staff designed an interactive “Discovery Hour” for K2 pupils. Using home‑grown titles—among them Kellie Magnus’s Little Lion collection and Eleasia Charles’s The Adventures of Perni the Worm—volunteers challenged students to predict plot twists, decode Jamaican dialect, and role‑play favourite characters. Quick‑fire quizzes and vocabulary games kept energy high, with school‑branded buttons and stationery awarded on the spot.
Across the island, 12 other primary institutions enjoyed similar pop‑up literacy labs, bringing the outreach tally to more than 600 students in a single day. Each child left with a personal book by a Jamaican author—an intentional nod to the nation’s own literary voices.
“The partnership between CB Group and our school is nothing short of transformative,” said Veronica Burnett, principal of Jamaica House Basic School. “From infrastructure upgrades to today’s literacy drive, they consistently invest where it matters most—our children’s future.”
For CB Foods, the initiative reflects a larger corporate philosophy. “Strong communities start with empowered readers,” noted Samantha Fisher, assistant brand manager. “When children see themselves in stories and master the art of comprehension, they’re better equipped to shape a sustainable, prosperous Jamaica.”
With plans already under way to scale the programme to additional parishes later this year, CB Group’s storytime crusade signals a long‑term commitment to turning curious listeners into confident readers—and, ultimately, into the next generation of Jamaican changemakers.
