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Ryan Smith Scholarship Fund established for CMI students

Published:Tuesday | June 14, 2011 | 12:00 AM
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Members of the Caribbean Maritime Institute Trust Fund Board are seen here with Rose Smith (front row, centre), mother of the late Ryan Smith, moments after the establishment of the Ryan Smith Scholarship Fund. Sharing the moment in the back row (from left) are Jalil Dabdoub, David Powell, Fritz Pinnock, Karl James and Mark Broomfield. In the front row (from left) are Tyra Turner, Rosie Donaldson, Rose Smith, Vivette Grant and Selma Williams. - Contributed photos
Fritz Pinnock (left), executive director of the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI), accepts a cheque valued at $100,000 from Rose Smith, mother of the late Ryan Smith. Vivette Grant, deputy executive director of CMI, looks on. The occasion was the establishment of the Ryan Smith Scholarship Fund for students of CMI.
The late Ryan Smith.
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Six months after tragedy took their only child, Rose and Vincent Smith have established a five-year scholarship fund for a student at the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI) in his memory.

The scholarship, valued at $100,000, will be awarded annually to a student enrolled in the industrial system operations maintenance (ISOM) programme at the CMI who meets the relevant criteria.

Twenty-year-old CMI student Ryan Smith died tragically on the Palisadoes main road on December 6, last year. At the time of his death, Smith, the top engineering student enrolled in the ISOM programme, had a grade-point average of 3.5. It is because of this academic excellence why his parents have established the scholarship fund in his name.

high achiever

"I'm doing this in memory of my son, who was a high achiever," Smith's mother, Rose, said.

"The wish of my heart is to help someone else. Ryan always liked helping persons," the teary-eyed mother added.

The presentation was made during the CMI's Trust Fund board meeting held at the Shipping Association of Jamaica last Thursday.

Fritz Pinnock, executive director of the CMI, thanked the Smiths for their generosity, noting that out of tragedy can come good.

"Ryan has touched many lives positively," Pinnock said. "We are touched. This is a story that will inspire many," he added.

Smith was one of two students who lost their lives in an accident on the Paliadoes main road. Smith,who was from Manchester, had gone to school to help his classmates with math as they prepared for exams.

He was described as being well-rounded, focused, brilliant, responsible, respectable and trustworthy.