Barbee visits Servite Primary in St Ann

Dancehall and R&B singer Barbee took some time off from her busy schedule to visit the Servite Primary School in Brown's Town, St Ann, on Monday.

The visit, facilitated by Dr Dayton Campbell, member of parliament for North West St Ann, was used to show students career paths in the performing arts and entertainment.

Barbee rose to prominence with collaborations with Junior Kelly and Beenie Man a decade ago. With her current single, Whoa, enjoying heavy rotation on BET Jams, Barbee was in high spirits as she interacted with the student population of over 600 students, along with staff.

"I love children, to be quite honest, so coming to Jamaica I had to come and visit the school because you never know how much talent is there in these schools, especially here in the Caribbean," Barbee told THE STAR.

"If we encourage the children and give them the opportunity to cultivate their talent from this age, just imagine how many doors can open with music programmes, with track and field," said Barbee. "Start them from they're young and you never know what might happen. That's why I just love coming here. Maybe a little girl or a little boy will say, 'oh my gosh, I can do music just like her'. My visit will give them the push, the drive."

Barbee had the children singing and dancing and playing games with her, including popular children's games such as Simon Says.

Dozens expressed the desire to become part of the entertainment fraternity. Principal Nigel Palmer said Barbee's visit was more than just fun for the children.

INITIATIVE EMBRACED

"Any initiative that will help our students here at Servite Primary, we will embrace openly," said Palmer. "There is a direct correlation between music and mathematics, research has shown that. So just to get the students out of class, get them relaxed and listen to some good music, chill out a little, then get them back in, it should work wonders in the classroom."

Campbell said the creative industry is one which needs to be paid more attention.

"We need to ensure that our children understand fully all of the options that are available to them," he said. "Magnum Kings and Queens finals, Saturday night, Symatic that won it went to York Castle. So you always have these students, and one has to encourage them to ensure that we don't leave anybody behind."