St Catherine students get scholarships
Faith Marcia Mowatt (left), who is now an educator in The Bahamas, presents a cheque to Karen Francis, the principal of Westwood High School, on behalf of the Class of ’71. Other members of this group of graduates share in the moment.
expansion that has taken place at the school, especially the many new buildings.
“The school population was around 200 girls then,” said Harris, in referring to her time at Westwood. “... And now they number in the thousand, all while maintaining the standards for which the institution has become known for.
“The important thing is that
the girls continue to learn good values and attitudes, so you can still recognise a Westwood girl when you see her,” added Harris, who is the principal of the Montego Bay Community College and wife on Montego Bay Mayor Glendon Harris.
Westwood’s principal, Karen Francis, who was quite enthused by the visit of past students, said it was a pleasure to have them
visiting and was quite appreciative of their donation, which she says will be used to acquire more chairs for the students.
“I was impressed about how passionate the ladies were for the school and their donation will assist us greatly to become further high achievers,” said Francis. LINSTEAD, St Catherine: FOLLOWING AN award of cash, trophies and medals to 32 students from St Catherine who are attending high schools and colleges early last month, five more students received similar awards during a church service, held at the Open Bible Church in Charlemont, St Catherine, recently.
This awards were made possible due to the consistency of Claude and Pauline Beecher, a husband-and-wife team who have been hosting the Clifford and Mavis Beecher Foundation awards for 13 years, in memory of his late parents who were educators.
Of the five honoured, two are attending high schools in the parish and three presently attending tertiary institutions. Thirtytwo others drawn from Crescent, Horizon Park Primary and Oneness Apostolic Preparatory schools were all given cash donations amounting to $250,000 along with individual medals and trophies earlier in August.
GIVING BACK
“God has inspired us to build on the concept started by my late parents, to give back to the community; not only to the students, but to the poor and needy,” Claude Beecher told The Gleaner.
“In these 13 years, we have reached over 300 students with assistance to make their transition to high schools and colleges much smoother,” Mr Beecher added.
Beecher said during this period, millions of dollars have been expended preparing for the award ceremonies.
“God has given us the strength and the donors to enable us to execute this venture on behalf of his people,” he proclaimed.
Kerimah Samuels, who is now attending the University of Technology, said the Beechers have warmed the hearts of many with their annual awards.
“I am very grateful to the Beechers. Their kind gesture has helped us in many ways in our back-to-school preparations,” she acknowledged.
Apart from the annual awards function, Pauline Beecher has been active in the Charlemont, Linstead and Bog Walk communities, giving cash donations to schools to assist with various projects.
During the recent ceremony, she presented a cheque valued at $50,000 to the Reverend Franklyn King, pastor at the Charlemont Open Bible Church, to assist needy students who are facing challenges with back-toschool expenses.
“This is the ministry the Lord has bestowed on me. Claude and I both supplement each other doing the things God want us to do,” she told The Gleaner.