Year 11 and 13 students recently celebrated their graduation from St. Ignatius Catholic School during a memorable ceremony at a packed Loyola Hall.  Cheered on by friends, family and members of the school community, the graduates received certificates reflecting their graduation from the school’s IGCSE or A Level programmes and many received individual prizes for academic and other achievements.  This year’s Year 11 Student of the Year for all-round achievement and positive contribution to the life of the school was Michael Sun.  Michael was presented with a plaque by Mr. James O’Neill from the Chamber of Commerce which had generously sponsored many of the prizes, as well as a new lap-top computer, kindly donated by KPMG.  Michael also captured subject prizes for English Language, Chemistry and Business Studies, as well as the Principal’s Award for the Student who Best Fosters the School’s Christian Ethos, presented by Head of School, Mr. Gary Clarke.  Zacharie Caudeiron was presented with the Ernst & Young Academic Excellence Award, which was accompanied by a $1,000 cheque, for the student with the highest grade point average, presented by Mrs. Betty Ann Duty.  Zacharie also received subject prizes for English Literature, ICT, Biology, French, Spanish and History.

Matthew McTaggart also collected several subject prizes, including Mathematics, Physics and Geography.  Other Year 11 prizewinners included Daniel Ward for Religious Education, Michael Testori for Music, Morgan Hayward for Physical Education and Karen Salcena for Art, who was also presented with the National Gallery Award for High School Visual Arts Achievement by Mrs. Mona Watler.  In addition to winning the Lifeskills prize, Sarah Hale was presented with the Paul Howard Award for Excellence in Sport, Alexander Hennings received the Award for Greatest Progress and Samantha Mascarenhas and Gabriela Roberts received the Home School Association Community & School Service Award presented by H.S.A. Chairperson, Michelle Daley.  Along with Kelsie McLean, Gabriela was also presented with an award for Perfect Attendance by Father Paul Ballien, Pastor of St. Ignatius.

This year’s Year 11 graduating class were reminded by the school’s Master of Ceremonies, Mr. Rice, that they had reached the goal set two years ago of achieving the highest number of Honours graduates of any graduating group with a total of eleven, beating the previous school record of eight.  The majority of the Year 11 graduates will return to the school in September to begin their AS Level courses.

Year 13 graduates were presented with their Advanced Diplomas by Mr. Chris Duggan, Chairman of the Board of Governors.  Claire O’Dea captured the prize for Highest Academic Attainment in the Sixth Form as well as the Principal’s Award for the Sixth Form Student who Best Fosters the Christian Ethos of the School and subject prizes in ICT and Spanish. The Sixth Form Award for Contribution to the Life of the School was presented to Anika Hewitt, who also won a subject prize for Art and Design.  The Walkers Law Prize was presented to Sarah Dombowsky by Partner, Richard Addlestone on behalf of Walkers who sponsor the school’s AS and A Level Law courses.  Sarah also received the subject award for Business Studies.  The KPMG Accounting Prize was presented to Frank Gayle by Partner, Sheenah Hislop on behalf of KPMG who sponsor the school’s Accounting course.  Other recipients of subject awards included Karysa Ebanks for Biology, Sarah Tatum for English, Cynthia Gonzalez-Espinos for French, Shay Miller for Geography, Daniel McGrath for History, Taylor Wight for Mathematics and Nicole Wood for Music.  The majority of the Year 13 graduates will immediately go on to higher education at good universities in the U.S.A., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland.

The guest speaker for the evening was Monsignor Jeffrey Monforton, Rector of Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A., who presented certificates and prizes and made the graduation address.  He quoted Robert Frost’s poem The Road Less Travelled, and reflected on his own decision as a younger man to become a priest.  Amongst many carefully selected pieces of advice, he advised the graduates to place their trust in God when faced with difficult choices in the future.

The student address was given by Kelsie McLean.  During a very well delivered address, Kelsie reflected on the closeness of the graduating group, a number of whom had been together since kindergarten and how they had overcome a difficult introduction to their high school careers in 2004 due to Hurricane Ivan.  On behalf of the group she thanked the parents and teaching staff for their constant support and guidance, and acknowledged that being at St. Ignatius had provided the group with many opportunities to fulfill their academic potential and strengthen their faith.  She reminded her classmates that wherever their future paths lay that the group had made bonds that could never be broken.

During his address the Head of Secondary, Mr. Embleton, reminded the community of the school’s strong recent examination results as well as the many varied opportunities for personal and spiritual growth provided by the school and which the graduates had participated in and contributed to.  Thanking the staff, parents and community for their ongoing support, he also announced that the School had agreed to begin to build a new Sixth Form study area and common room to meet the demand of the growing Sixth Form numbers and better meet the needs of the senior students.

As well as including speeches and the presentation of certificates and prizes, the graduation ceremony also included musical items from the school’s excellent Concert and Steel Bands, led by Mr. Simon Donoghue and Mr. Ostan Matthews.  Following a closing prayer by Father Alex Crasta and the singing of the National Song, the happy graduates joined staff, families and friends at the post-graduation reception in the school cafeteria.

Congratulations to the Graduating Class 2009:
Ralph Armas     Diana Kleinworth   Tyler Phillips
Ashley Bodden  Anne-Margaret Lauer   Kortney Remizowski
Christal Borden  Daisy Lee    Gabriela Roberts
Zacharie Caudeiron  Paul Lewis    Sophie Roberts
Cristian Crescente  Raejani Lopez    Karen Salcena
Matthew DeLessio  Marina Maffessanti   Logan Seymour
Keenan Ebanks  Rachael Manderson   Cassandra Shea
Kristi Ebanks   Samantha Mascarenhas  Kelly Sun
John Fawkes   Elena McDonough   Michael Sun
Katie Fleming   Alexander McIntyre   Michael Testori
Sarah Hale   Kelsie McLean   Kyle Thompson-Watson
Morgan Hayward  Matthew McTaggart   Cara Verhoeven
Alexander Hennings  Ariella Mendez   Alexander Walton
James Davis Hydes  Juan Carlos Mora-Moya  Daniel Ward
Ghislaine Jackson  Chelsea Nelson   Dalton Watler
Khristina Jairam  Lauren Parsons   Yannick Whorms

Congratulations to those graduating with Advanced Diplomas:
Briana Bergstrom  Cynthia Gonzalez-Espinos  Claire O’Dea
Stephen Chin   Guillaume Hammersley  Rhon Royer
Joel Clark   Anika Hewitt    Sarah Tatum
Garrett Conolly  Jonathan Jorge    Rolfo Whitaker
Larissa Dixon   Daniel McGrath   Taylor Wight
Sarah Dombowsky  Robyn McLauchlan   Jerrica Wood
Karysa Ebanks  Shay Miller    Nicole Wood
Frank Gayle