Ivanna Eudora Kean High School students sang their school song Friday inside a brand new Ford F-150 pickup truck, donated by Alpine Securities, to transport the school’s band members and equipment, its JROTC battalion and for maintenance.

Kean Principal Sharon McCollum called the donation “a prayer answered,” and said Alpine will continue to provide support for its programs as needed. Along with the truck, the company also donated $9,051, which the science department used to help buy three brand new microscopes.

"Last semester I was trying to do a lab with my forensic science class and the microscopes we had, they were just totally not working, so I had to omit a section of my lab activity," biology teacher Shamika Williams-Henley said. "So having these new ones will greatly benefit the students.”

Alpine Chief of External Affairs Jason P. Charles, an alumnus of Charlotte Amalie High School, said he got involved with Kean after receiving a phone call one day from a senator on St. Thomas. After calling up McCollum, he met Williams-Henley while touring the school, and realized her need for more equipment.

"We are trying to prepare our students to meet a globalized market place," Charles said. "Their competition will come from Asia, their competition will come from Europe, so we have to train our kids to be prepared to meet a changing world, and as a part of Alpine’s commitment to the community, we wanted to present this school and other schools with tools that can help change the futures of the Virgin Islands."

Charles said he has stayed in touch with McCollum and will be helping to meet some of the school’s other needs, along with developing programs there and at CAHS.