St Francois Girls told: Use your chances well

Two national scholarships, awards for placing in the top ten in the Caribbean in CSEC exams and countless other certificates were distributed to students yesterday during the St Francois Girls’ College achievement awards ceremony at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s. The two scholarship winners were Diandrea James and Ariel Lawrence. James also won the Upper Six Form prize for her class. Awards also were presented to the school’s Panorama champions, dragon boat team, netball champions, track and field relay team and football champions. Students who took part in the World of Work Internship Programme also got certificates. More than 30 companies in various business sectors in T&T partnered with the school during the August vacation to provide internship opportunities for students of the school.

Delivering the feature address, the school’s former principal, Janice Blackman, encouraged the students to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the school. “Women, including Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Opposition Chief Whip Marlene Mc Donald, have taken leadership positions,” said Blackman. Blackman, who was one of the first teachers at the school when it opened in 1962, reflected on her past experiences. She said the school had opened with 140 students and four classrooms and had been a success from the very beginning. Blackman said it had from the beginning placed great emphasis on character-building. “We stressed on lady-like behaviour at all times, even when partying and playing mas,” she added.