The Carriacou Children’s Education Fund continues this year with an additional set of scholarships: Coatney Charles and Deon Crompton from Bishops College and Curtrim McGillivary and Jillean Scott from Hillsborough Secondary School. Through the generosity of several ex-pat residents, Kadem McGillivary from Bishops and Quiteria Coy from HSS have been recognized for scholastic excellence with the awards of the Sue Kingsman Memorial Scholarships, administered by the Carriacou Children’s Education Fund.
Five of these plus Trevin McLawrence from 2010 are attending the main campus of TAMCC in Grenada. One student from the 2011 group plus Leah Hagley and Gloria Wells from 2010 are attending the satellite campus at Six Roads, Carriacou. The scholarships cover full tuition and fees for two years plus a stipend of $1000 towards the purchase of necessary textbooks.
These students bring to nineteen the number of scholarships awarded by the Carriacou Children’s Education Fund. Previous awardees include Michelle Alexander, Nadia Edwards, Reann Martineau, Rena Noel and Tahera Paul from Bishops College, and Stacey Bain, Carnisha Charles, Camille DeRoche, Marcia Scott and Codell Stafford from HSS. A number of these have already put their education to good use as staff at HSS and several local businesses in Carriacou.
Each student writes an essay of 1000 words on the topic “How I will use my education to build a better Grenada”, and the primary focus for all students has been development of opportunities for the youth of Grenada, an issue near and dear to their hearts.
Ms. Rholda Quamina (Bishops College) and Mr. Brian Lendore (Hillsborough Secondary), the principals of the two secondary schools in Carriacou, select the scholarship recipients based on CXC/CSEC scores and financial need. Mr. Patrick Compton, Carriacou branch of the Grenada Union of Teachers, assists in the process every year, collecting and reviewing the essays.
Visiting yachts and local businesses continue to assist local students through the fundraising efforts of the Carriacou Children’s Education Fund (CCEF). This year’s awards bring the total amount of financial aid to more than $34,000. With the amount already allocated for next year (2012), the total contribution by CCEF for scholarships to TAMCC will exceed $45,000.
The Carriacou Children’s Education Fund is an informal, voluntary group of individuals from visiting yachts from around the world, and a number of concerned local businessmen and women. Since 2000, CCEF has conducted fund raising activities during the first week of August at the Carriacou Yacht Club in Hermitage, Carriacou coinciding with the Carriacou Regatta Festival.
During this time, CCEF has raised over $150,000 to provide uniforms, necessary school supplies and other educational assistance to the children of Carriacou. The mission is to help as many children as possible and to fill the gap between what is required for a child to receive a proper education and what the families can provide.
Since its inception, CCEF has provided assistance towards this goalin over five hundred cases. Success is due primarily to the hard work and generosity of the visiting yachts and the local population who support CCEF, and is the yachts’ way of saying “thank you” to the people of Carriacou for the warm welcome always received. These scholarships at TAMCC are a natural extension of the assistance that CCEF has provided the primary and secondary school children of Carriacou in the past, targeting assistance for the future leaders of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. CCEF is just one example of how Carriacou benefits from the presence of the yachts.
If you would like to become involved in this very worthwhile project, please contact ccefinfo@gmail.com
