Forty, favoured & fabulous
St Hilda’s class of ’78 celebrates ruby anniversary
FORTY YEARS after they walked out of the St Hilda’s Diocesan High School as graduates, members of the class of 1978 returned to the Brown’s Town, St Ann, campus to stage a series of activities to mark this milestone on the school’s calendar.
The activities were coordinated by attorneyat-law Charmaine Smith-Bonia and a team including persons from Jamaica and some who reside in the United States.
Members of the class of ‘78 from Jamaica, and other countries, also converged on the Jewel Resort and Spa, Runaway Bay, to celebrate the occasion.
The past students addressed different year groups of current students and shared experiences about their days at St Hilda’s.
Current principal, Heather Reid-Johnson, shared information with the alumni about the academic performance of the school for the past 10 years and some of the initiatives undertaken by the school leadership, the teachers and the school board of governors which resulted in St Hilda’s being among the top three outstanding high schools in the latest performance ranking.
LUNCHTIME
The alumni also joined the line in the cafeteria, bought the same lunch that the students had and sat with them to rap during their lunchtime.
One of the highlights of the activities was an anniversary dinner at the Jewel Resort, Runaway Bay, where each person was asked to share her memory with the audience and what their alma mater means to them.
The keynote address at the dinner was delivered by Dr Charmaine Gooden Monteith, deputy secretary general of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association and a member of the St Hilda’s class of ’78.
In her address, Gooden Monteith shared anecdotes of her days at St Hilda’s and issued a call for action.
Gooden Monteith asked her audience to determine whether conversations in 1978, as they related to national issues then, had changed much 40 years later.
SIMILAR ISSUES
She noted that some issues, such as the bauxite levy, which The Gleaner in 1978 referred to as “a contentious issue”, remains topical.
Gooden Monteith also pointed to a bold Gleaner headline in 1978 which read, ‘JTA wants security plan for schools’.
At that time, Dundee Hewitt was the president of the JTA, and it was reported that she led a team of secondary-school principals to meet with the then Minister of Education Eric Bell.
“Could this have been a headline in 2018?” questioned Gooden Monteith.
She called on the alumni to continue with the passion of patriotism, philanthropy, and loyalty to the St Hilda’s brand, and encouraged her peers to support the school through the establishment of a scholarship fund, the launch of a mentorship programme, and the overall support of their alma mater to ensure that it continues to turn out ladies of high academic standards.