Over the years, Jamaica College has produced men of excellence in their different fields of endeavour ranging from business, politics, academics and sports. The Jamaica College Old Boys Association (JCOBA) has been recognising these individuals through the staging of their annual Carlton Alexander Award Dinner. This year as they celebrate its twenty fifth staging, I would like to congratulate its honourees Mr. Douglas Graham and Mr. Patrick Gordon, both leaders and exemplars in business.

As a school, building on such a great history and legacy of leadership and excellence is no easy feat and requires the collaboration of all stakeholders. Through the partnership with JCOBA, one of our main stakeholders, we have and can continue to develop the “perfect man”: a college man who embraces our core values of honesty, integrity, respect, excellence, discipline and spiritually. Our aim is that such a man is a rounded individual who will be able to contribute meaningfully to the development of his country.

We are transitioning into a new era, our Principal Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid has been on secondment in order to serve the nation as the Minister of Education, Youth and Information. We are proud of his achievement and wish him all the best in his new role. The baton has now been passed and as the Acting Principal, the responsibility is now mine to take the school to the next level in its development and quest to become the number one boys’ school in Jamaica. Through our transformation over the past ten years, we are once more a force to be reckoned with in academics, sports and co-curricular activities.

Over these years, the school’s academic performance has improved significantly, internally and in the national rankings. We are now seeing students receiving awards and national ranking in the CXC examinations. Of mention is our current School Captain, Shumba Brown who ranked number one nationally in the CAPE unit 1 Digital Media exam and fourth regionally. Our Robotics team continues to create history as the only Caribbean team that competed in the recently held New York City- Long Island Regional Championship. As a result of their success, they also competed in the East Super Regional Championship Tournament in Pennsylvania and then at World Robotics Championship which was held in Missouri.

Our performing arts team which consists of Cultural Drumming, School Choir, Band and Drama Club, after entering the 2016 Jamaica Cultural Development Commission competitions, won 8 gold, 7 silver and 2 bronze medals. Sports continue to be a beacon in the school. The ‘College Men’ showed their dominance once more in football. We continue to go unbeaten in the Manning Cup since 2012. For the past 3 years, we have won both the Manning Cup and Olivier Shield (threepeat). I suggest that both silverware be retired at 189 Old Hope Road. The Under 19 Hockey team were crowned champions once more, another threepeat. The Under 15 Badminton team were winners regionally and nationally. The track and field team continue to perform creditably and were the most successful school boys’ team at the recently held Penn Relays, winning the long and high jumps as well as the 4×400 m relay.

As we continue to strive for excellence, we salute all our alumni who have contributed to our success over the years. Your sacrifice and support help us to keep the traditions of the Great College alive. With this in mind, we will be reintroducing boarding for the new school year, with the newly built Mayer Matalon Dormitory. Thanks to the vision and hard work of Dr. R. Danny Williams who has spearheaded this initiative through the Jamaica College Foundation. I am encouraged by the future prospects of the school through its partnership with the JCOBA and wish that this year’s Carlton Alexander Award Dinner will be a grand success.

Fervet Opus In Campis

Rohan Wong

Acting Principal