The 2012 recipients of the Sister Pat Award of Excellence were announced on Friday.{{more}}

Twenty-three students at the St Joseph’s Convent Marriaqua (SJCM) received the award for their all-round academic and extracurricular achievement.

The Form 1 awardees are: Jay-Donna Davy, Brittany Jack, Earlneek Nimblett, Ranisse Pitt, Dalisha Williams, Brittany Woods, Desmorel Hackshaw, Mariah Thomas, Rekisha Wright, Donasha Toney, Eli Davis, Ayele Jack, Kimmisha Brereton, Keeva Barnum, Jaynise Caine, and Olivia Jackson.

The second form recipients are: Kirthlyn Joseph, Anthony Bibby and Javron Dowers, while Joel Bascombe and Rudysha Corridon are the Form 3 awardees.

Joshua Gooding and Wendy Ann Cato of Form 5 also received the award.

The award is named for former principal of the school, Sister Patricia Douglas — Sister Pat — who died tragically in a vehicular accident while on a visit to Barbados in May 2005.

She was in the company of two of her biological sisters Joyce and Jacqueline, who were also injured in the crash.

The search for a fitting way to honour the work and commitment of Sister Patricia Douglas to the school and the upliftment of the people of the nation was a hard task, Sister Jacinta Wallace, principal of the school said.

“Sister Pat’s thrust was to take care of the whole person, to prepare her students for the real world and to ensure the endurance of strong, Christian values in society,” Wallace said.

So, when the idea to have an award of excellence came about, it was decided that it was an appropriate gesture to be made in her honour.

According to Wallace, the aim of the award is to motivate students to achieve and maintain high academic standards, while promoting and developing other skills, including punctuality, good manners, respect and courtesy.

“That our students would be able to fit in and not become misfits,” she said.

Criteria for the award include an academic standard of 70 per cent or more, punctuality to school and class, participation in community service and involvement in at least one extracurricular activity.

The criteria are used to create a dean’s list and if students make the list for three terms, then they automatically qualify for the Sister Pat Award of Excellence and a $100 contribution toward their tertiary level education.

Wallace commented positively on the increased number of students receiving the award this year.

Thirteen students received the inaugural award. The number had increased to 23.

The school also recognized two staff members: Martina Cato, for 30 years of service to the school and Jennifer Browne, for her tenure and success as a teacher at the institution.

But in the midst of the celebration, Wallace pleaded with businesses and individuals in the community to support the initiative.

“We have 23 awardees and we are happy to have these awardees, but if you do the math, you will know how much money is present; so we would really like to have more support and some more sponsors,” she said.

“These are going to be your future employees and we want you to invest in them from now,” Wallace added. (DD)