Charles sweeps awards at GHS

“Are we ready?” was the question posed to fellow graduates by Head Girl and 2007 Student of the Year of the Girls’ High School Colette Charles.

Charles, who almost did a clean sweep of the awards, also winning prizes for English, Biology, Chemistry, Spanish, Geography, perfect attendance and the Louise Haywood-Cambridge prize for deportment, implored her fellow graduates to ensure that they were prepared to ring their own bells to get to classes on time, and to get their assignments in with no teachers there making sure that work is done when they enrol in further education.{{more}}

Charles, the daughter of Ellsworth and Dale Charles of Argyle, said attending the Girls’ High School had laid the foundation and instilled in them the skills needed to make a meaningful contribution to this world. She urged her fellow graduates to acknowledge past lessons, for she said, “You can’t possibly know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’re from”.

She went on to tell the graduating class that hard work and determination must be their best friends if success is to last. To end her heartfelt speech, she asked that the class of 2007 live by the school’s motto ‘Per Ardua ad Alta’ (Through difficulties to the heights).



Feature speaker and graduate of the class of 1987 Rosanne Small-Morgan,(right) made an impassioned and at times humorous speech, which earned her rapturous applause from the entire congregation. Her plea to the graduating class was that they always carry themselves with dignity.

Small-Morgan went on to say that they will have experienced the best of the best at the GHS and if they migrate to other countries, they must remember what was instilled in them and not short change themselves by following the crowd.

Small-Morgan urged the girls to never compromise on things that they know to be wrong, be leaders not followers, smile and be gracious, for you never know whose life you might be touching, and always give back to others. She said that too many people are negative and wonder why negative things happen to them, but the energy that you give out is the energy that comes back to you.

She therefore asked the 124 graduates not be afraid to believe that they can be anything they want to. For life she said, is like melted butter, when things cool down, you can always reshape your life.

The Girls’ High School graduation ceremony took place on the 4th of July at the St. George’s Cathedral in Kingstown. (VM)