Over 270 students from theAdrianT.HazellPrimary School, and its Kindergarten Section, were presented with awards on Tuesday evening, January 31, for outstanding performance in classroom work. The occasion, atBethelMethodistChurch, was the First Annual Dorothy Hughes Academic Award Ceremony.
The event was chaired by Principal of the School, Mavis Fleming Drakes, who welcomed the education officials, parents and students to the ceremony. She was pleased that it was sponsored by Dr. Lowell Hughes, Dr. Franklin Hughes and all the other members of the late Dorothy Hughes’ family. She said the students selected for awards had achieved 80% or more for their school work.
Superintendent Minister of theMethodistChurch, Rev. Dunstan Richardson, said during his opening prayer that the ceremony was a fitting tribute to Mrs. Hughes’ work as an Anguillian educator.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mrs. Chanelle Petty-Barrett, said the annual occasion was an encouragement to students of the school to strive to excel. She commended and thanked the Hughes’ family for their sponsorship of the presentation ceremony. “It is a very fitting memorial for Teacher Dorothy Hughes who was a beloved teacher and a very effective member of this community,” she said. “I am sure that many of you would have been touched, in some way, by her life, and I think that this event is really one that is a testament to the contribution that she has made to this entire community. I want to say to the Hughes’ family that your generosity has demonstrated that great things can happen when the community becomes involved in the life of the school.”
Mrs. Petty-Barrett congratulated all the students who received awards and said that the Ministry and Department of Education, teachers, parents and the community were proud of them.
Dr. Lowell Hughes, who delivered a motivational address, thanked the principal and staff of the school for allowing the family to sponsor the event in honour of his late mother. Speaking on “How to Make Your Dreams A Reality”, he encouraged the students to begin thinking on what they wanted to be, or what type of life they would like to have when they grew up.
He stressed that in order to achieve that, there was a need to be self-motivated, and he pointed to the dreams and accomplishments of a number of outstanding persons who they could emulate. “Self-motivation is an internal desire to achieve, produce, to better yourself and keep moving forward without anyone pushing you,” he defined the term.
He urged the students to decide on a plan for their lives and to remain focused on it. “You can be whatever you want to be,” he emphasised. “Convince yourself that you can be just as good as the best of whatever you want. Yes, you Can. Keep on trying hard and it will pay off in the end.”
The distribution of the awards was done by Dr. Franklin Hughes, assisted by educational personnel and others. The children were awarded for outstanding performance in National Test in Mathematics, Reading Test, Test of Standards in Language and Science and Social Studies and Kindergarten work.
