HYMNS filled the air and incense rose in sacred swirls as present and past Kingston College (KC) students filled the St Augustine Chapel at the school’s North Street campus on Sunday morning to kick-start a week-long celebration of its 100th anniversary.

The service was dedicated to KC students, the board of governors, principal, academic and ancillary staff, parent-teachers’ association, and the old boys’ association, as they acknowledged the vision of its founding Headmaster Bishop Percival Gibson.

Congregates looked back on the death of Jesus as they marked the day Christians celebrate as Palm Sunday while also looking at KC’s history.

“One hundred years is a long time in the life of a human being and certainly in the life of an institution and we can see the success through the trials and tribulations and reflect on our journey which started with those 49 boys, 100 years ago,” said The Right Reverend Garth Minott, the Suffrage Bishop of Kingston. Minott underscored that KC’s impact on Jamaica was transformational and argued that this started with how the school helped to change the academical landscape by providing equal access to education for young men in Jamaica.“Kingston College was born to engage the Jamaican people, the Jamaican society, the Jamaican children and boys on the basis that each of them had access to equal rights and justice,” said Minott. Referring to the school’s motto ‘Fortis cadere, cedere non potest’, with the English translation, ‘the brave may fall but never yield’, Minott explained that this was not only a perfect description of the school’s journey and beginnings but a “gospel imperative” that students should continue to apply in every aspect of their life.“Kingston College cannot, and is not afforded the luxury of being a waggonist, you must stand on the side of the ostracised and the marginalised, those who are isolated in the society and live up to the expectations that has been set through the reputation built,” said Minott.

He urged students and other congregants to not only celebrate the 100-year journey but to strive for more excellence and to continue building on the school’s reputation.

In the meantime, chairman of the school’s board of management Michael Vaccianna expressed pride in the institution’s achievements and optimism for its future.He echoed the Minott’s sermon as he argued that now is not only a time to celebrate but it is a “call to action” to improve on what has already been built.“This centenary celebration is not only a time to look back, but it is a call to continue the mission. It is a call to action to all members of the Kingston College family, to get involved, to ensure that Kingston College remains a place where excellence strives, where discipline is taught with compassion and where young men are equipped to make worthwhile contributions to society with God at the centre of it all,” said Vacianna.

The celebrations will continue through this week with a Centenary Anniversary Parade today where Mayor of Kingston Andrew Swaby will present the school with a key to the city.

The celebration culminate on Wednesday, the day of the school’s anniversary, with a gala awards banquet ceremony to be held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

Probyn Marsh, 97-year-old, who entered Kingston College in 1945, is seen at Sunday’s service to kick-start a week of celebrations for the school’s 100th anniversary. (Garfield Robinson)