JC's 'roll of unprecedented achievements'

Marc Stamp, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica College (JC) celebrated their success in sports, as well as academics, during the current school year at a brief ceremony during morning devotion at the Karl Hendrickson auditorium on the school's Old Hope Road campus yesterday.

Principal Ruel Reid described the occasion as "a celebration of success, to honour young men here," as he addressed the gathering of mostly students and teachers at the school.

"In 2012-13, we did well in Manning Cup (football), reached the Walker Cup final, plus retained the Under-14 football all-island championships for two years. We won the hockey competition for the third consecutive year, winners of the ISSA/First Global cricket title, and still in contention for the ISSA Grace Premier League trophy. We copped an award in robotics and finished second at the Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships. No other school does so well in competitions and academics. We are truly the school of champions," Reid boasted.

"We have excelled on every front. Our academic performance, infrastructure, and discipline have seen major improvement. We have seen 40 per cent improvement in 2009 and 2010, plus 100 per cent improvement in mathematics passes in 2011 and continued good results in English language. We gained 100 per cent passes in most subjects at the CXC advanced level," the principal disclosed.

"This is indeed a fantastic roll of unprecedented achievements and turn around in such a short time period," he said.

At the recently concluded ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Championships, JC surprised the experts and finished second ahead of Kingston College and behind champions Calabar High (299 points).

"When I looked at the programme, they had us coming third with 142 points. And I want to commend Mr Forbes (Ian, manager of JC sports teams) and the coaches of the athletic programme because this is what achievement is all about. Sometimes when people don't think you are going to do it, you exceed their expectations. We not only exceeded the 142 points, we finished on 257.5 points and beat KC (Kingston College), and almost won the championships," said Reid.

"What distinguishes us is that when we win, we not only win in one competition, we win in a slew of competitions. We not only focus on Champs, we want to win everything. Jamaica College is a school for champions," he reiterated.

Ian Forbes, JC sports manager, thanked the principal and his staff for supporting the sporting programmes at the school.

"All that Principal Reid just said could not have happened without the strong support from him and his staff," Forbes noted.

He also told the students that they must be disciplined.

"I know from experience, having participated in sports while attending JC, that sportsmen can sometimes be somewhat troublesome. And, of course, their teachers have to put up with a lot sometimes. I just want to tell you all that discipline comes first. You are first at JC as students and athletes after. As you move around this campus, discipline comes first," Forbes told the students.

He praised the respective sports teams for bringing more success to the school.

The respective teams and coaches paraded on the platform in front of the school population.

Full Caption: Principal Ruel Reid (second right) and sports manager Ian Forbes (right) look on as Jamaica College students display trophies and plaques won in various sports and other events during the school year. From left: Gavin Samuels holds aloft a trophy won in robotics, Kyle Robinson (partially hidden with plaque), captain of the athletics team, E-Jay Hylton (with trophy) also a member of the athletics team, Akim Fraser (with cricket trophy), captain of the winning A League cricket team, and Dirk Williamson (with photo). - Rudolph Brown/Photographer