Holmwood alumni association gives back

Jamaica's Ambassador to the United States, Audrey Marks, says: "The constant donations of millions of dollars from alumni associations to various Jamaican institutions have not gone unnoticed by the Government and, in particular, the Ministry of Education. As a result, many schools have better amenities and hundreds of students have received financial assistance that has helped to further their education." She noted the vital role played by alumni organisations in the advancement of education in Jamaica, through the contribution of millions of dollars to improve school plants and fund scholarships.

She was addressing the fifth annual dinner-dance of the Maryland chapter of the Holmwood Technical High School Past Student Association at the American Legion Banquet Hall in Greenbelt Maryland on August 4.

Ambassador Marks said she was encouraged that the alumni association had continued to use the decades old social tradition of its dinner-dance a means of merriment that also boosts worthy causes back at home.

Great support

Ambassador Marks pointed to Holmwood's outstanding status among Jamaica's high schools, and expressed pleasure at the "great and wonderful job" the alumni and supporters were doing to uphold the institution's tradition of excellence.

"Even though you have left school, you have never forgotten to give back. It is the work of groups like the alumni associations that have helped to keep many schools running as efficiently as possible," she said. Marks also commended the group for helping to improve the landscape of education in the parish of Manchester and, in particular, Christiana and noted that even though the alumni left a while ago, they had not forgotten where they were nurtured.