Kgn Tech pays homage to philanthropic alumni

Kingston Technical High School has launched the celebrations for its 129th anniversary with weeklong activities focused on fostering a culture of giving back among current students and honouring alumni who have contributed to the school’s legacy.

During Monday’s devotional activities, relatives of Everett Thompson, a late past student of the Hanover Street-based school in downtown Kingston, launched a $5-million scholarship fund in his honour.

Kamieka Gabriel, Thompson’s niece, said her uncle, who attended the school from 1951 to 1954, willed the sum to his alma mater before his passing in 2020.

“I know education was important to him, Jamaica was definitely important to him, [as well as] agricultural sustainability – just moving the country forward. So I think it was a really big deal to give something to the future of the country,” she said.

Gabriel shared that Thompson was born and raised in St Thomas and migrated to the United States in the 1960s and worked as an accountant. He returned home to Jamaica in the 1990s, and lived in Oracabessa, St Mary, until he died at age 85.

For Compton Rodney, a past student and member of the school’s board, Thompson’s donation embodied the spirit of gratitude and reciprocity that students from his generation, whose successes were grounded in the institution, feel towards the institution.

“What has to happen is that they, the students, realise what the culture was then – the giving back, the camaraderie that was then, that you keep in touch. We’re not a sports school as KC (Kingston College) or Calabar or JC (Jamaica College), but we did well in things like commerce, engineering, in architecture, construction,” he said.

The school also launched its 130th anniversary celebrations on Monday.

Recent years have been challenging

Meanwhile, Francis Reid, chairman of the school, noted that Kingston Technical has always excelled historically, but he acknowledged that recent years have been challenging for the school.

Three years ago, the school community was shaken after a fight led to one girl dead and another charged with murder.

“I think it is mainly based on the students that we are taking now. That’s not any deliberate way, but the reality of the situation. The school has been going through some challenges to navigate the space with the students that we are having,” he said.

But for its 129th year and beyond, Reid expressed optimism that Kingston Technical will rebound even stronger.

“We want to develop that culture again because I think it is more of a cultural thing than folks just [giving] out of goodwill. It’s not just for the school itself, but for the wider community; the country will benefit from that,” he said.

“We would love to develop a culture as you would see with the past students ... [who] still have Kingston Technical as the base or the foundation for them that launched not just their career, but also their development as an individual,” he added.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com