To his students, Clive Grayson, the first ever principal of Mt Hope Junior Secondary School, was considered a tough task master and disciplinarian. But to him his students are his children still, although most of them are now 40 years older.
It was a teary-eyed occasion recently when the alumni of the school held a 40th anniversary anniversary at The Attic Club in Maraval. The well attended event went into Sunday morning and was attended by Grayson and his wife Gloria, and past teachers.
Back in the day, Mt Hope Junior Secondary was referred to by students of neighbouring schools as, "dhal, rice and bhaji" school, as its students' uniform was yellow, white and green. In fact one past student even attended the reunion in the uniform of 1972.
Other teachers in attendance, each receiving tokens of appreciation from past students, were Valarie Gilbert, Monica Bernard, Joseph Cummings, Renison Mc Pherson, Anthony Murray, Merere Gonzales, Gemma Leon and Anthony Permel.
Teachers who were not present but honoured included Merle Albino De Coteau, Michael Hill, Louise Brown, Rose Dean and Sedley Joseph.
Members of the reunion organising committee were Tshai Yorke, Elena Navarro, Winston Matthews, Harold Rennie, Kenny Second, Jude Williams and Cherry Ann Gonzalez. Williams chaired the formal segment of the evening.
The alumni of Mt Hope Junior Secondary School are planning a Divali lime next month, at a venue to be announced.
