SANDALS Resorts Inter-national (SRI) recently handed over $550,000 in scholarships to 16 secondary and tertiary-level students, as part of its efforts to reward academic excellence while helping parents with the cost of financing their children's education.

Fifteen-year-old Lamoy Gordon of Rusea's High School and Olivia Anderson, 17, of Hampton High, were named most outstanding male and female recipients respectively and received Sandals mountain bicycles as part of their prizes.

Recipients of Sandals Resorts International community scholarships, seen here with representatives of the Sandals Group, after receiving their prizes. (Photo: Carl Gilchrist)

Wayne Cummings, director of business processes and administration at Sandals, said the awarding of the scholarships was one way that Sandals could make sure its success finds its way into the communities - through an investment in education.

At the same time, he reminded his audience - which included recipients, parents and guardians, along with representatives from the various Sandals and Beaches properties islandwide - that Olympian Trecia Smith, who copped silver at the last world athletics championships in the triple jump, is a product of the Sandals scholarship programme.

The list of scholarship awardees, schools and sponsor hotels included:

. Daniel Kerr of Ocho Rios High (Sandals Grande Ocho Rios);
. Samantha Henry of Oracabessa High and Phillip Robinson of St Mary High (Beaches Boscobel);
. Omar Brown and Donald Lounds of Brown's Town Community College (Royal Plantation);

. Cavair Blake of Cornwall College (Sandals Royal Caribbean);
. Shomari Lynch of Cornwall College (Sandals Montego Bay);
. Andre Whyte of Cornwall College (Sandals Inn);
. Lamoy Gordon of Rusea's High and Amoya Roxborough of UWI (Beaches Sandy Bay);

. Ollyvia Anderson of Hampton High (Beaches Negril);
. Sharda Lee of Rusea's High and Xavier Dixon of Mannings High (Sandals Negril);

. Wallecia Wright of Westwood High (Grand Pineapple); and
. Romane Dryden of Grange Hill High and Chevelle Blackburn of Black River High (Sandals Whitehouse).

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