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| Mrs Ingrid Gumbs keynote speaker |
CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (JUNE 28, 2006) -- Graduating students of the St James Primary School have been encouraged to develop positive character traits, which would serve them well both academically and in other areas of their lives.
Mrs. Ingrid Gumbs, a former student, made the comment while she delivered the keynote address at the school's 2006 graduating ceremony on Tuesday June 27th 2006 at the Eden Brown Church of God at Butlers village. The ceremony was held under the theme "Positive Attitude and Self Discipline: Solid Foundations for Successful Character Building" with the patronage of Mr. and Mrs. Levi Daniel.
"Character development is everything. If you are self disciplined if you have positive character traits, you are likely to go places, you are likely to achieve success and not only academic success but success in every area of your lives," she told the 10 graduands.
Mrs Gumbs stressed the need for adopting positive which would assist them with their development and gave offered them some guidelines and added that with a positive attitude and self discipline nothing shall be impossible to them [graduands] with God's help.
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| St James Primary Schools 2006 graduands |
"Tell yourself that having a good character is important & we have to understand that developing our character is more important than a lot of the other trivia that we engage in. You need to understand each character trait and what it means to you. You must use your unique traits for the advancement of the group and the society.
"You must engage yourself in positive activities within your community and within your nation along with your family members. More and more we are becoming a selfish people but there were times when we did look out for people, nobody was hungry because we shared food over the fence," she said.
Mrs Gumbs also encouraged the graduands to build on the foundation they have received from the St James' Primary School and also to band themselves together and urge each other along to ensure they all graduated at the end of their secondary school education.
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| Valedictorian Master Kylon Daniel |
Meantime, Valedictorian Master Kylon Daniel during his address thanked the teachers for their patience, guidance and support over the years. He also urged his fellow graduands to continue to work hard when they entered secondary school.
School Principal Ms Vertelly Weeks in her school report, announced that seven of the graduands had secured placement in form 1A1 at the Gingerland Secondary School, based on their performance at the recently concluded Department of Education's Test of Standards examinations.
She announced that Master Kylon Daniel was the top boy of the school and he walked away with several awards including that of top student in Mathematics and in Social Studies while Miss Bragelle Nisbett was the top girl. She was also awarded with several prizes including top student in Language Arts.
According to the Principal, students had encountered difficulties in the area of mathematics and Reading and measures were put in place to assist. Notwithstanding, she took the opportunity to appeal to community minded persons to assist the school to make it the best school on the island.
Mrs. Versilie Powell Education Officer during remarks took the opportunity to commend the school's principal and staff for their efforts. She singled out teachers Ms Janice Whittaker, who for the past three years had taken on the challenge of pursuing studies while remaining in the classroom and had recently graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Educational Psychology. Mrs. Shea Wilkin was also recognised for her pursuits in ongoing Education Administration studies while still in the classroom.
During the ceremony Ms Dahlia Maynard gave remarks on behalf of the parents, Mr. Stevenson Manners served as chairman and the invocation was given by Mr. Phineas Griffin. The programme was dotted with poetry and songs from students including the graduands.
~~Adz:Right~~Also present at the ceremony were Premier and Minister of Education Hon Vance Amory, Hon Livingston Herbert Junior Minister of Education, His Honour Deputy Governor General Mr Eustace John and Principal Education Officer Mrs Jennifer Hodge.
