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| Graduating class 2004 singing their final song, "Saying Goodbye" |
Charlestown Nevis (July 2, 2004) Education Officer, Mr. Joseph Wiltshire showed the graduating students of 2004, a road for which they should chart their destiny while attending secondary education. He was delivering the feature address at the Charlestown Primary School Annual Graduation and Prize Giving ceremony held at the Cultural Centre in Charlestown.
He said, “Doing anything new for the first time is never easy and your attendance at the secondary school for the first time will bring its share of difficulties and unease as you try to adapt to the new environment which exists at the Charlestown Secondary School.”
Mr. Wiltshire, in summarizing his input to the forty-five graduating students directed their attention to a seven-point plan, which he was confident, would assist them in charting their future course:
“Choose good friends,” he said. “Make sure that your friends are persons who are serious about their education and who respect themselves and their elders. Take your education seriously, by attending school regularly and on time. Pay keen attention to what your teachers are teaching. Set realistic goals by competing against yourselves rather than against others.”
As a past secondary school principal, Wiltshire admonished the students to set career paths. “Discuss your choices with your parents, relatives, teachers and guidance counselors,” he added. “Select subjects that will help you with your future careers.” He called upon students to develop a thirst for knowledge, to utilise the available resources for research and to work hard.
The ceremony saw the forty-five pupils graduating with Opal Parris being the most outstanding student. She not only captured the best results for the test of standard examination, but also, most of the best results for grade six.
The school’ report for the academic year 2003-2004, saw Principal of the School, Mrs. Alice Swanston emphasizing on the amount of time the school spent on disciplining the students.
She said, “Generally the school year was not as academically productive as it should have been. The main problem that affected productivity was indiscipline. Too much classroom time was lost dealing with disciplinary problems.”
The principal observed that although the students who gave disciplinary problems were in the minority, they had contributed to the amount of time wasted on helping the majority. She added, “Teachers are having an extremely difficult time in the classroom and some parents have not yet come to this realization and so the support and cooperation from the home is sometimes lacking.”
“Most parents seem to be encouraging their children to be good, but there are a few parents who display inappropriate conduct in the presence of their children thus encouraging their children’s bad behaviour. The home and the school need to be saying the same thing to our students.”
In parting words of encouragement to the parents of the graduating class, Swanston told them to work more closely with the secondary schools, saying, “Some of your children going in to high school have some combinations that do not lend themselves to academic productivity.
A rebellious attitude mixed with poor academic potential will most likely end in failure, on the other hand, poor academic ability mixed with cooperation and a willingness to learn is more conducive to success and will give better results.”
The ceremony which was held under the theme, “’Charting Your Destiny Through Hard Work and Perseverance” was graced with the presence of the Hon Michael Perkins and Mrs. Perkins, area representative, Junior Minister of Education, the Hon Livingston Herbert, education officials, principals of primary and secondary schools, parents well wishers and friends.
Education Officer, Mrs. Averil Elliott gave brief remarks, while the school choir rendered two items. Father Ernest Fleming of the St. Pauls Anglican Church did the invocation and Mrs. Ellen Grant, former teacher of the school, chaired the ceremony.
