BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AS a reward for their excellence in education, five students who recently graduated from the primary education level were recipients of the Melvin Edwards Excellence Award facilitated by the St. Kitts Co-Operative Credit Union (SKCCU) Ltd.
Now into its fifth year, the Awards programme seeks to promote academic and general excellence by providing a monetary and other incentives to those students who would have achieved the highest scores in the Test of Standards for any given year.
For 2015, both the first and second place students hailed from the Tucker Clarke Primary School. They are Mauriel Knight and Giuseppe Garito.
Kianja Pole of the Beach Allen Primary School, Dariel Warner of the Sandy Point Primary School and Zanique Williams of the St. Paul’s Primary School took the third, fourth and fifth places respectively.
The students were given a monetary sum of $1,000, $700, $500, $400 and $300 respectively.
The atmosphere at the SKCCU’s Bladen office on Wednesday (Oct. 14) was one of congratulation and encouragement with each of the speakers egging on the children to continue applying the values that would have gotten them to that point.
President of the SKCCU Sherillia Massicot informed the gathering of Edwards’ achievements, noting that they too could continue striving for excellence by applying themselves, working hard, exercising discipline, abstaining from bad company and adopting attitudes of excellence in other area of their lives.
Education Officer Amanda Edmeade said the Ministry of Education values the support of the private sector in the development of the students and applauded the SKCCU for its initiative.
Her words to the awardees were, “As you continue your educational journey, remember to continue to apply the attitudes, behaviours and values which would have allowed you to excel thus far. The best way that you can say thank you to Credit Union and to recognise Mr. Edwards is by continuing to apply yourselves as you face new challenges, increased distractions, peer pressure…”
Mother of the top student Charmaine Nicholls-Knight, in delivering her words of accolade, focused her attention on parents. She said in preparing her presentation she inquired of her son what he felt she had done to assist him in excelling.
Among the things she said he mentioned are providing an environment conducing to learning, attending PTA meetings, ensuring that his homework was always completed, purchasing of school supplies, helping him to know Christ and encouraging him to always study and pray before writing examinations.
Each student was presented with a plaque, a certificate of excellence and a cheque. The schools from which they hailed and their parents were also each given a gift.
