The Rotary Club of St. Vincent has hosted yet another successful annual George Phillips Excellence Awards Ceremony during which 27 fourth formers representing each Secondary School in St. Vincent and the Grenadines were recognized for their outstanding performance. The students were selected based on the following criteria:
Outstanding academic performance
Team leadership
Commitment to discipline
Achievement in approved extra-curricular activities
Over 50 parents and teachers were present to support their students who were awarded at the luncheon ceremony held at the Methodist Church Hall on Wednesday June 7th, 2023.
The George Phillips Excellence Awards, named after the Charter President of the Rotary Club of St. Vincent, is a signature project of the Club for over 20 years, and has been quite instrumental in recognizing and stimulating a culture of excellence throughout our local Secondary Schools. From its inception, this project has been executed in partnership with the Ministry of Education and National Reconciliation. The Ministry was represented at the event by Dr. Godwin James, Senior Education Officer, who brought brief remarks on behalf of the Ministry and commended the students on their achievements as recipients of the award.
This year’s featured address to the students was delivered by Mrs. LaTeisha Sandy-Marks, Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit and member of the Rotary Club of St. Vincent. Sandy-Marks’ exhortation to the students was focused on the theme “On the other side of the unimaginable” which aligned well with Rotary International’s theme for 2022-2023 “Imagine Rotary” leaving students with timely reminders to remain resilient in times of adversity, gentle with themselves in the face of uncertainty, and courageous as they move into new phases of their development.
Major sponsors of this project included the Bank of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, gifting each awardee with the opening of new savings accounts with a starting balance of EC$150.00 among other tokens; and FLOW, who sponsored each awardee with free broadband internet access for the next two years. The Rotary Club of St. Vincent is also indebted to Island Sipz Water, ECGC, Jaden Inc., St. Vincent Brewery Limited, Coreas Distribution Limited, Coreas Hazells Inc., Grenadine Airways, Fanfare Events, BDO, and Dental Arts Clinic for their generous contributions to the project thereby ensuring its continued success.
The Rotary Club of St. Vincent remains committed to continuing this partnership with the Ministry of Education and corporate SVG which has impacted and continues to impact so many lives. One of Rotary International’s areas of focus is Basic Education and Literacy, and the Rotary Club of St. Vincent intends to leverage its partnerships with stakeholders through mentorship and provision of opportunities for growth to secure the development of our nation’s youths and subsequently our future.