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New Cayman Prep and High School Graduates get tried and trusted formula from an original!

New Cayman Prep and High School Graduates get tried and trusted formula from an original!
The Year 11 Graduates, some of whom were overseas representing Cayman in various international sporting meets, received praise from the School’s Leaders for their commendable attributes and joyful embrace of life at the School. Messrs. Julian Solomon and Paul Foster, speaking on behalf of the Graduates, in turn thanked the Management and Staff of the School for the opportunities and care and attention provided for them at the School. Mrs. Melanie Hydes, their Head of Upper School, was one of those singled out for special mention (as she was also the night before when the Year 13 Leavers Ceremony was held!). It was an encouraging and uplifting occasion, during which Mr. McGrath, the Director, gave an overview of the wide ranging accomplishments of the students and the School for the year, starting with the Kindergarten and seeming to touch most areas up through the Sixth Form, in academics, sports, the arts, cultural, and community or mission service. He noted that, the Kindergarten Section had an unexpected visit recently from the office of ESAU, the Cayman Islands Educational Standards and Assessment Unit, which is responsible for inspecting or evaluating all schools in Cayman. The ESAU team concluded that the school deserved the highest level on their grading scale in each of the 4 areas examined for kindergartens, and did not find anything that needed attention. We echo the Director in saying, “Well done to our kindergarten teachers!” but extend it to all the Staff and Management of the whole School. (Further details of the impressive array of activities and accomplishments in this extract from the Director’s speech.)

The Director also acknowledged “the invaluable contributions made by Mr Bud Johnson who has just retired from the Board of Governors, after many years of service, including periods as Chairman or Deputy Chairman, and also by Mr Jerris Miller who has been a Board member for many years. These two gentlemen have worked long and hard for all of those years, guiding the school though many changes and many challenges during its growth into a High School. We are very much indebted to them and on behalf of the school I want to express to them my fullest appreciation and gratitude for their exemplary contributions.”

But certainly a highlight of the evening was the keynote speech by Mrs. Olive Miller, MBE, JP, who was one of the original teachers of the School, when it opened in 1949 (as the Cayman High School, with a Preparatory Department). Mrs. Miller is still very active in the Church, where she is something of a living icon of the Christian life and a passion for mission without boundaries. She encouraged the Graduates to remember and strive for four S’s – Salvation, self-discipline, stickability (which she preferred to “perseverance”!) and selflessness. She clearly demonstrated how they were interrelated, and bound together by Jesus Christ – and pointedly encouraged them in song to “Put Your Hand in the Hand of the Man from Galilee”! On completion of her very moving and often humorous speech, punctuated by examples of her own experiences, she received a standing ovation from a grateful audience. Thank you Mrs. Miller for being such a blessing and example to us, for generations.

The night before, the audience had been very impressed by the range of tertiary subjects the A Level students were registered to pursue in universities on both sides of the Atlantic, including various sciences, pre-medical and biomedical studies, psychology, computer technology and electronic engineering, law, environment, teaching, commerce, and even “International Fashion Marketing!”

Posted by: Administrator Thursday Jun 30, 2011 18:30
Categories: students | Tags: