GREEN ISLAND, Hanover — The Green Island High School in Hanover recently launched a ‘Brick-by-Brick’ project in which past students are expected to contribute a minimum of $50 each to the school’s fund-raising efforts to purchase a school bus.

The initiative, which forms part of the year-long celebrations to mark the institution’s milestone, was announced at a special ceremony held at Bioprist Complex in the parish recently.

The celebrations kicked off on August 29 with a church service, while a Past Students’ Association Reunion Banquet was held the following day. On October 17 the school will host a ’50 Years in the Community-Let’s Talk’ event at the institution, while other planned events include ‘Let’s Get on the Move’ on December 10 at the school; ‘Saluting Our Heroes’ on February 25, 2020; and ‘Excellence on Stage’ to be held on March 26, 2020.

Located in the district of Industry Cove, an adjacent community to the town of Green Island, the institution was established in 1969 on lands that formed part of the Harding Hall Estate, formerly a sugar cane plantation, with renowned educator Simon Clarke, a former principal of Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College in St James.

Other principals who have served the school are Ruby Dummett, Hayden Forde, Brian Breese, Ansel Brown, Horace Baugh, and Ada Mitchell. Its current principal is Maxine Evans.

Starting with a little over 500 students in 1969, the institution’s enrollment now stands at 2,000.

“The visionary that was at the helm of this institution, Mr Simon Clarke, began a programme to keep students beyond grade nine and prepare them to sit external exams. In the mid-1970s the Ministry of Education adopted the idea born at this institution to keep students in school until grade 11. During the final two years, students were to do several core subjects and a vocational area, so they would leave with a skill in any of the areas of wood work, electrical installation, agriculture, business education, welding or childcare. The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) was then introduced as an exit examination and this encompassed a wider array of subject options. Mr Clarke had to create classrooms to facilitate the growing numbers of students then; He even employed some school leavers as pre-trained teachers,” stated Roselle Reid Grinion, the acting vice-principal, at the recent function held at Bioprist.

“This programme was a tremendous success and some of our students went on to do further studies at tertiary institutions, for example, Jamaica School of Music and the then Jamaica School of Agriculture.

“By the late 1970s, the school’s population had outgrown its physical capacity and was bursting at the seams and so, in an attempt to remedy that situation, a shift system was introduced. To this day, Green Island High continues to operate on a shift system,” added Reid Grinion.

Reid Grinion noted at the function, which was held under the theme: “Learning from the Past; Celebrating the Moment…Changing the Future”, that the school has been a part of several pilot projects.

“The school has been a part of several pilot projects for the Ministry of Education, including the Reform of Secondary Education programme, the e-Learning project, the Health and Family Life programme, and it has also piloted the teaching of drama as a subject for grades 7-9. In recent times our school has piloted the performing arts and physical education and sports subject disciplines at both CXC-CSEC and CAPE levels,” disclosed Reid Grinion, who is also the head of the social sciences department.

CSEC refers to Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate sat at the end of grade 11, while CAPE refers to Caribbean Advanced Proficency Examination sat at grades 12 and 13. Both are administered by Caribbean Examinations Council.

“Green Island High continues the tradition of excellence set by its pioneers and has been a trendsetter in so many areas. We also initiated the Green Island High School Development Action Committee programme, which was copied by the Ministry of Education and became the basis for the school development plan programmes since the early 1990s,” Reid Grinion continued.

Apart from academics, the school has, over the years, performed exceedingly well in the 4-H Club, Girls’ Guide and the performing arts under the leadership of Shaurna Miller.

Over the past 25 years, the school has raked in at least 25 gold medals annually, as well as numerous silver and bronze medals in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission Festival of the Performing Arts competitions. This has resulted in the institution being named the most outstanding school in the performing arts within Hanover, and among the top five schools on the island for a number of years.

Additionally, Green Island High has performed well in the sporting areas of football, cricket, netball and track and field.

And while the school does not engage in boxing as a sport, it has produced the J Wray & Nephew Contender television series winner, Ricardo “the Surgeon” Smith, who won the competition in 2011.

Senior Education Officer Marlon Williams congratulated the school for its “sterling leadership”, which he said has made the institution one of the top schools.