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Buxton-born Professor rewards village’s top Grade Six performers
Mrs Paulette Charles poses with the top students and their teachers after they were presented with the awards. At left is Canada-based George Culley of the Committee to Assist Buxton.
Throughout their primary school years they had to endure a torrid time in between gruesome killings and constant police raids, yet did their village proud by earning places at some of the country’s top secondary schools.
These are the former students of the Friendship, Company Road, and Buxton Primary Schools on the East Coast of Demerara.
And for their efforts, 10 of them were rewarded with the annual Annie Daniels Memorial Award, compliments of a fellow villager, Dr. Kerwin Charles, who himself has excelled in academia.
The students, who were drawn from the three primary schools in the catchment area were each presented with $20,000 to purchase text books for the beginning of their secondary education.
The presentation was done by Dr. Charles’ mother, former Headmistress, Mrs. Paulette Charles.
Dr. Charles is a distinguished professor at the Chicago University and an Associate of the National Bureau of Economics Research, USA.
“God has prospered him and he thinks it right, always to give back, that’s how they were raised. Among the things he does in giving back, is apportioning some money every year since 2007 towards this purpose,” Mrs Charles told the small gathering at the Friendship Primary School.
The award is named after his grandmother, the late Annie Daniels, a former lifelong resident of Buxton, whose feeling for young people was manifested not only in her profound love for her own children and grandchildren, but also in the caring for the many other young people with whom she came into contact.
This year the awards went to Alesa Long, of Friendship Primary, who was awarded a place at St. Stanislaus College; Kaslin Amsterdam, St. Roses High; Wandia Blair; St. Roses High; Orin Hyman, St. Joseph High; Shaldi Connell, President’s College; Jermaine Lowe, Annandale Secondary; Heakeme Williams, Presidents College; Allison James, Annandale Secondary; Dawen Roberts, Swami Secondary and Aminah Stokes, President’s College.
Previous awards were made to the initial recipient, Abike Amsterdam, who finished among the top 10 Grade Six Assessment students in 2007, and to the Friendship Primary School, for the best overall performance last year, as well as the Buxton Youth Developers.
Despite the creditable performances this year, the students’ head teachers were all convinced that they could have done much better, judging from their performances in the build-up to the examination.
Leslie Luke, Headmistress of the Friendship Primary School, said that she is not so satisfied but she understands the constraints her students had to endure.
“This is the set of children that really experienced the harsh times of a couple years back. We tried with them and they have performed,” she said.
Michelle Booker, of the Company Road Primary School and who was also the Grade Six teacher was pleased that some of her students topped 500 marks.
“Two years ago we had Abike Amsterdam and she was ninth in the country,” Miss Booker proudly recalled
“We know that our village was stigmatised when we had that crime wave. Persons are of the perception that the best schools are in Georgetown, and here we are showcasing that as much as these students attend schools in the rural areas, they have performed well,” she added.
Headmistress of Buxton Primary, Ann McAddy, said that while she is impressed she was still a bit disappointed with the performance of the school this year.
“This group of children, they were working children. We knew along the line that there was something good in the results,” McAddy told Kaieteur News.
She explained that education in the Buxton area has slowly been able to regain the status it once held after a decline for several years.
“About two decades ago, the results were restricted to secondary schools in the district.
It was so alarming when we were able to gain at least two for St. Rose’s, one for St. Joseph, one for President’s College and four for Annandale Secondary, which are all senior secondary schools,” McAddy stated.
The head teachers were all confident that their schools will surpass this year’s results in 2009.
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