Students embrace programme that highlights positive achievements, rewards their efforts

Students at the Graydon Sealy Secondary School are staying true to their motto “Promote All Aspects of Our Growth” with the rollout of an Excellence Programme throughout the school.

The brainchild of Art and fourth year form teacher, Denise Jones, was conceptualised to motivate the fourth year students.

“We wanted to highlight their positive achievements and reward them for putting in the effort and staying true to the school’s motto,” said Deputy Principal ​​Shyrelle Howard-Gittens.

She explained that the initiative was put to the year heads for the other year groups and was eagerly embraced. A major part of this initiative is that each year group is designated a wall of ‘excellence’ where the students who place first in class or those who have performed outstanding acts of national or community service are featured.

“It is our hope that the students who have not been selected this time around would see this and aim to make their mark as well,” Howard-Gittens added.

In addition to the students’ photographs being strategically displayed around the school on the walls of excellence, the students are treated to lunch at La Veranda restaurant in Maxwell, Christ Church.

The Fourth Year students were treated to lunch last month while the first, second and third year students enjoyed their luncheon on June 14.

“We at Graydon Sealy believe that it is high time that the positive things done by our young people take precedence over the sensationalised negative behaviours of the deviant few.”

The deputy principal explained that since 2019, the school has embraced the theme GSSS P.R.I.D.E., where each letter of the acronym was assigned to a year group.

The first years were assigned “P” for patience; the second years “R” for respect; the third formers “I” for integrity and the fourth years “D” for determination. The fifth year students were invited to showcase “E” for excellence.

She said, “The idea behind this was for our students to work their way through the school towards achieving excellence. We
wanted our students to recognize that their education was a journey, a journey that would lead them to take P.R.I.D.E. in everything that they did.

“The Excellence Initiative is a small way in which we encourage camaraderie among the students, build a positive school culture and promote a vibrant and healthy work ethic.” (PR)