On Wednesday, 7th August 2019, a small group of representatives, from the ALHCS, Education Department and Ministry of Home Affairs and Education formally, received a very generous donation of a highly sophisticated and costly piece of equipment. The donated High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) machine came from Colgate-Palmolive through The Kimdra Smith-Webster Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded, in 2017, to honour the memory and academic prowess of the late Kimdra Smith-Webster and to support the pursuit of higher education by students of Anguilla.
During the brief handing over ceremony, held on the lawn just outside of the Science Laboratory at Campus A, Mr. Bren Romney, Chief Education Officer, expressed gratitude to Mr. Ken Smith, President and Founder of the Kimdra Smith-Webster Foundation, on behalf of education in Anguilla. Mr. Smith had first contacted the former Chief Education Officer, Mrs. Rhonda Connor, about the donation and explained the lengthy process required to negotiate for the machine and to have it delivered to the school in Anguilla.
Mr. Winston Duncan, Science Curriculum Coordinator, commented that this device, which is used in analytical chemistry to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture, would give Form 5 and 6 Science students the chance to learn a technique that is usually introduced in university Chemistry labs. This would certainly give them an edge as they continue their schooling in the field.
Also present to witness the handover were other Foundation representatives as well as Mrs. Rita Carty, Principal of the ALHCS; Mr. Feliciano James, TVET Coordinator; Mrs. Mary Smith, Head of Science; Ms. Deveane Guishard, Assessment Officer; Mr. Mclean Webster and Mr. Mateo Webster, family representatives.
The Ministry, Department of Education, ALHCS staff and students, wish to thank all those involved in coordinating this donation. The plaque that will be attached to the machine will ensure that this generous act is memorialized. The Kimdra Smith-Webster Foundation also provides scholarships for those worthy Anguillian students who wish to further their studies, particularly in the area of Science. All are invited to visit the Foundation’s website for further information.
