Hundreds of students, staff and community members turned out for a 5K walk and health fair as Graydon Sealy Secondary School celebrated its 50th anniversary, an occasion marked as much by pride in the school’s legacy as by a focus on health and wellness for the future.
The school was opened at its Paddock Road location on September 11, 1975.
Principal Shyrelle Howard-Gittens said the milestone was an opportunity for students to deepen their appreciation of the school’s history and its contribution to Barbadian society.
“I think it is an excellent opportunity for our students to get to know the history of their school, the students who would have passed through and made their contributions to Barbadian society,” she explained.
“I know a lot of times the items that get traction are the negative ones, but I’m very pleased to see that our students can do something positive. We have some excellent students here who go above and beyond to promote the school.”
The day’s activities included the 5K walk and run around the school environs, followed by a fun day on the school grounds. Teacher Ashlee Edwards, who coordinated the event, said it was a highlight of the anniversary calendar.
She emphasised that health was deliberately made a central feature of the celebrations: “A lot of students come into school with non-communicable diseases. We realised that health and wellness also need to play a part within the school community. Once health and wellness is part of the everyday process and we can promote it to our students, that is what we will do.”
The head of the Industrial Arts Department, Kelvin Collymore, said the event underscored the importance of developing healthy habits from an early age.
“Over the years we have produced many good citizens of Barbados,” he said. “As part of the celebrations, we thought to focus on the health and welfare of our students by having this 5K fun walk followed by a health fair.
“It helps the children to see that they can do it, that they can have exercise as part of their daily routine, and they can also indulge in healthy eating to improve their health as they grow older.” (SZB)
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