85 Nevisians have benefitted from the TDC Warren Tyson Memorial Scholarship Programme

CHARLESTOWN, NEVIS (MMS-SKN) — With fewer primary schools than St. Kitts, the Nevis leg of the ‘Warren C. Tyson Memorial Scholarship Public Primary Schools Tour’ is about to come to an end following the visit at the Ivor Walters Primary School on Monday, May 15.

Managing Director of TDC Nevis Ltd, Mr Ernie France, who had escorted the TDC Warren C. Tyson Memorial Scholarship Programme alumni, Mrs Wendy Elliott-Williams, to her alma mater, told the students that between 1981 when the scholarship programme was started, and 2022, 288 students from both St. Kitts and Nevis have benefited.

“There were 85 students from the primary schools who were going into high schools in Nevis who have benefitted from the programme,” noted Mr France. “It is available to students who are going from primary school into high school. What we do every year is seeking nominations from the Education Department, and they will put forward nominations which they would have gotten from the primary schools, and we take two students into the programme every year.”

One of the successful students goes to the Charlestown Secondary School, and the other one goes to the Gingerland Secondary School. The two successful students in each given year end up meeting at the Nevis Sixth Form College in Charlestown, as the scholarship also covers their studies in Sixth Form and the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) for those in St. Kitts.

Mr France pointed out that a total of six students going to high school from the school would have benefitted from the programme when it was known as the Prospect Primary School, and another four after it would have been renamed the Ivor Walters Primary School.

“So, it is possible, and there are students who have benefitted from the programme in this school, and I am sure there might be a few more, maybe some of you are here today who will benefit from the scholarship programme,” Mr France encouraged the attentive students.

The TDC Group of Companies, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary under the theme ‘Your Neighbour, Your Partner, Your Future’, launched as part of the anniversary celebrations the ‘Warren C. Tyson Memorial Scholarship Public Primary Schools Tour’ to showcase its longstanding academic excellence initiative.

The first presentation was done on Monday April 24 when scholarship alumni Mr Crios Freeman visited his alma mater, the St. Paul’s Primary School in St. Kitts.

This was followed by visits in Nevis to the St. Thomas Primary School on Tuesday April 25 by Ms Kristelle Clark, Violet O. Jeffers Nicholls Primary School on Wednesday April 26 by Mr Zarin Chumney, St. James Primary School on Thursday April 27 by Ms Clayticia Daniel, Joycelyn Liburd Primary School on Friday April 28 by Ms Londy Esdaille, and the Elizabeth Pemberton Primary School on Tuesday May 2 by Mr Ian Byron. The last school to be visited will be the Charlestown Primary School on Tuesday May 23.

“Wendy has become a very accomplished person,” said Mr France as he introduced Mrs Wendy Elliott-Williams. “She now works with UNICEF which is an international organisation, and she is the coordinator of the programme in St. Kitts and Nevis. Now, this is a big job.”

Mrs Wendy Elliott-Williams, who attended the school when it was known as Prospect Primary School told the students that she had always been guided by the school’s motto, ‘Aim at the stars and you will reach the skies’. She was also a recipient of the Chevening Scholarship which enabled her to graduate with a Master’s Degree in 2012 from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

“When I was in Grade Six I had the opportunity to be interviewed and I was given a scholarship from the TDC Group of Companies,” explained Mrs Elliott-Williams. “The scholarship did not only help me buy books, but also we got an opportunity to work with others in TDC both on Saturdays and also on vacations.”

She told them that among the benefits of TDC scholarship included motivation as it motivated her to perform in school. She further noted that she gained a lot of confidence in dealing with people, speaking to others, and speaking with the rest of society when they entered TDC, and also how to relate to her peers.

“I realised then that the workers at TDC contribute to our society, the whole of Nevis, in different ways,” said Mrs Elliott-Williams. “And likewise, I wanted to be someone who would contribute to Nevis in whatever way, many ways, everywhere which I could.”

Saying that she is the United Nations Children’s Fund Programme Officer, she advised that the programme focuses on protecting the rights of children by among others supporting governments and organisations to protect children so that they can grow in a safe, protected, clean, healthy environment.

“I would like to say thank you to Prospect Primary School at that time, now Ivor Walters Primary School, and also to TDC for developing me as a person and allowing me to contribute to our society – our lovely island Nevis,” she said in conclusion.

The TDC team was welcomed to the school by Principal Mrs Janice Whittaker-Richards, during morning assembly where she acknowledged the trio of Miss Duchess Hutton, Miss Kylee Wilkin, and Ms Kare’nique Storrod on winning the 2023 Interscholastic Spelling Bee Competition, which had been held on Friday May 12 at the Michael Herald Sutton Auditorium, Nevis Performing Arts Centre (NEPAC). She remarked that on their journey to be declared the winners, “they did not misspell even one word.”