Springer Memorial School, the lone all girls public secondary school, marked its 50th anniversary with a celebratory service at the Mount of Praise Wesleyan Church on Sunday.
Old scholar Pastor Sandra Holford of the New Dimension Ministries encouraged students to be examples of excellence by employing consistency, having good character and being committed.
She was one of several of the former students who paid tribute in some form to the school that helped to shape them. The returnees included deputy director of the Child Care Board, Denise Nurse, Pastor Judy Dunner and director of the Bureau of Gender Affairs, Patricia Hackett-Codrington.
Those in attendance heard tales told out of school, got a history lesson about the Government Hill, St Michael based school and its uniforms and heard about how the school was excelling, apart from its athletic prowess.
Holford told the students that their behaviour must line up with excellence that reflected God.
“Oftentimes we see excellence as the result of what we get, the house, the car . . . . We miss the fundamental areas in our lives that also should portray excellence . . . . If you are supposed to be this excellent person doing this excellent job the whole thing has to be excellent,” she reasoned.
“You have to be committed to honesty. We have a lot of people that are climbing the ladder of success and we look at them and we say they are doing an excellent job and some of them are plain crooks,” Holford said.
Meanwhile, in her report principal Pauline Benjamin pointed out that the recent sixth form introduced at the school had a student who gained six grade ones and a grade two.
The school, she said, which has been the athletic champions for the last 13 years, was not neglecting academics.
Benjamin called on students past and present to remember the school motto and offer support.
During the service, the Golden Spoon was passed from former head girl Kentura Banfield to her successor Makeisha Forde.
The congregation was treated to a musical selection from steel pannists Tanisha Nicholls and Victoria Ifill and a dance from Sara Brewster. (AC)
