Meteor shower of success

Students of St Joseph Convent, Port of Spain have not only let their light shine but have created a meteor shower, a fireworks display, with their outstanding success, topping the country with 41 scholarships, Anna Pounder, principal of the school said on Friday.

Last Thursday, speaking at the 2017-2018 award ceremony at the school chapel, Pembroke Street, Port of Spain, Pounder said what was so wonderful is that the school obtained scholarships in business, mathematics, science, creative arts, environmental science, and languages, which is a testimony to hard work in all departments.

She said the school mission is to cater to the diversity of gifts and talents of students.

“We had 100 per cent passes in CSEC up from 99.2 per cent and have a four-year trend of consistently excellent results in all subjects’ areas.” She said the school gained several regional awards – 26 students across a number of subjects being placed in the top ten; three students from CSEC and 23 in CAPE. The most outstanding awards being first in Spanish, both in Unit One and Two. Pounder said all of the academic success is due to the dedicated staff who give tirelessly of their time and expertise to students. Boasting of how extremely proud she felt, Pounder said the school had been looking at examination results, analysing the data, tracking trends and made a commitment to improving Ones and then at improving the grade profiles.

“This has borne the fruit in this haul of academic awards. And of course to the outstanding talent and hard work of our students. It is amazing that we continue to reap such remarkable results with so little. Financially the school is in crisis – and I am not joking. It may seem like we have everything, but we are working under very dire constraints, with the late disbursement of funds from the Ministry of Education.”

Pounder said the schools had cutbacks in grants and grants that have not been reviewed since 2000. She said 2017-2018 was the worst it has been, with the first-term grant coming in January and third-term grants in September of the following year.

“Today we say thanksgiving for the many stakeholders who support the school and value the work that we do.”

Giving the feature address, past student and managing director of RBC Royal Bank Gretchen Camacho-Mohammed told the students they should not be shallow and susceptible people who merely look confident and capable on the outside, but be rooted in values, and have character. “I am certain every one of you wants to live a productive life. Remember, it’s not just about the what, it’s equally the how. It’s not just being accomplished, it’s also about feeling fulfilled. As you continue on your journey, remember, it’s about the good you do that benefits others, the be-attitude that you bring to all that you accomplish and the pain can move you to a more deeply fulfilling life.”

“As you look ahead at a new day it should be less about what you want to do and more about who you want to be. Will you be accomplished or will you be fulfilled?”