Principal of Old Harbour High School in St Catherine Lynton Weir, and Bhagya Malladi of Immaculate Conception High School in St Andrew are the proud LASCO/Ministry of Education, Youth and Information 2019/20 Principal and Teacher of the Year, respectively.

Weir and Malladi, who both came out ahead of six others in their respective categories, were on Tuesday bestowed with awards and accolades at a ceremony held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

They each received a championship trophy, cheques for $250,000, among other prizes, and will be attending the prestigious Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) Conference in Los Angeles, California, in March 2020.

Kevin Coke of Herbert Morrison Technical High School in St James was named the Technical Vocational Education and Training Teacher of the Year.

Addressing the ceremony, acting permanent secretary in the Education, Youth and Information Ministry Dr Grace McLean lauded the award recipients for their sterling contribution to the education sector. She said that they are helping to shape the minds of the future leaders of the society.

“Each year, teachers across the education spectrum…help to awaken the latent talents, stir the interest and whet the appetites of thousands of our children to raise their expectations of themselves,” she said.

Dr McLean also commended LASCO for promoting and rewarding exceptional professionals in education.

“This is a much-appreciated gesture of goodwill, and reinforces how much we appreciate you, our educators. You have made, and continue to make, a great difference in the lives of our children and the nation as a whole, and we welcome this opportunity to say thank you and well done,” she said.

In his address, founder and executive chairman, LASCO Affiliated Companies Lascelles Chin said that the company’s awards programme for key public sector groups represents an investment in professionals who are “making this little rock, Jamaica, a better place”.

In addition to principal and teacher of the year, LASCO also recognises the Nurse and police officer of the year, at a cost of more than $30 million annually.

“These public server form the core, the backbone, the glue that holds this country of ours together,” Chin said.

“I cannot say it too often, but the social and economic stability revolves around the commitment and dedication of these three public sector groups,” he added.

Aretha Willie of George Headley Primary School in Kingston, and Dameian Elvin from Hague Primary and Infant School in Trelawny, copped the first and second runner-up spots, respectively, for Principal of the Year.

In addition, Rohan Walcott of de Carteret College and Marsha Russell of Porus High School, both in Manchester, were first and second runners-up, respectively, for teacher of the year.

The first runner-up in each category received $150,000 and will also attend the ASCD conference, while the second runners-up were awarded $100,000.

Weir and Stacy Richards of Aabuthnott Gallimore High, St Ann, were the respective winners of the principal and teacher social media campaigns, which were not used to determine the overall winners.

All the finalists received plaques, gift certificates and gift baskets courtesy of LASCO.

— JIS