KINGSTON, Jamaica — For 75 years, Vaz Preparatory has contributed significantly to the country’s education system.

Several of its graduates have also gone on to excel in various fields including business, entertainment, sports, diplomacy and politics.

On Saturday September 12, the school will host its 75th anniversary gala, a black-tie event scheduled to be held at the AC Hotel in Kingston.

According to Peter Richardson, president of Vaz Preparatory School Past Students Association (VPSPSA), the anniversary gala event will serve multiple objectives.

“The gala carries our anniversary theme, “Honouring Our Legacy. Inspiring the Future.” Its aims are threefold,” Richardson told Observer Online on Saturday.

“First, to honour the legacy of our founder Mrs Hazel Vaz, OD, to formally honour our main honouree Mrs Beverley Ulett, and to honour 30 plus educators and staff who have served Vaz for over 20 years, with the longest-tenured over 50 years, and to recognise alumni who have excelled across multiple disciplines.  The second, is to reunite the global Vaz Prep family, which has graduates across Jamaica, North America and beyond.  Thirdly, to raise funds for the school’s next chapter: scholarships for deserving students, a solar energy installation to secure the school’s future, a modern STEAM laboratory, and upgrades to the Creative Centre, which Mrs Ulett herself founded. Every ticket and sponsorship directly supports these projects through the Past Students Association, a registered 501(c)(3) organisation. We are also inviting alumni to sponsor gala seats for the school’s teachers and long-serving staff — the people who made all of our stories possible.”

Ambassador Lloyd Carney, CD and Jamaica’s Special Investment Envoy will deliver the keynote address at the gala.

The technology executive and philanthropist is the founder of the school’s computer labs that now bear his name, the Lloyd Carney Computer Lab, which the alumni through the Bridging the Digital Divide initiative, has since refreshed.

The official Gala Ambassador is Sanya Richards-Ross, four-time Olympic gold medalist, London 2012 Olympic champion in the 400m and former American record holder.

Fyah 105 FM’s DJ Bambino, who is also a past student of the institution, and Captain Roxene Nickle, JP, will both host the event, which will also feature a full artistic programme under musical director Joe Davis, with live saxophone interludes by Raheem Vassell.

The evening will feature the Voices of Vaz series — a curated look at the journeys of alumni from ambassadors to Olympians — showcasing the lasting impact of their Vaz Prep foundation. The gala includes fine dining, awards and recognition, and graduates spanning seven decades travelling home from across the diaspora.

Among the well-known entertainment personalities who have attended the institution are Grammy winning members of the Marley family, Ziggy, Stephen, Rohan and Cedella Marley.  Recording artiste Chino McGregor and his brother, Stephen, a popular music producer, also attended Vaz Prep, so too medal winning athletes Alia Atkinson, Jaydon Hibbert, Reggae  Boy Damion Lowe and  Jaheel Hyde, Olympic hurdler; O’Dayne Richards, Commonwealth gold medalist; Marvin Watts, Olympic 800m runner; Wolde Harris, Reggae Boyz striker; Damani Ralph, MLS standout; and Llori Sharpe, professional road cyclist.

Others include Oliver Mair, Jamaica’s Consul General in Miami, and Franz Hall, Jamaica’s Ambassador to Cuba and the Dominican Republic, Christopher Berry and Konrad Mark Berry, brothers behind Mayberry Investments; Kayree Berry Teape, CEO of the Mayberry Foundation; former Minister of Education Maxine Henry Wilson, Nari Williams-Singh, JP, former Director General of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority and president of the 40th ICAO Assembly and Dr Renée Rattray, education transformation leader.

Vaz Preparatory was founder on September 10, 1951, by Hazel Vaz shortly after Hurricane Charlie impacted the island.  She started out by teaching three children in a converted garage at 11½ Dunoon Road.

Across 75 years, the school has educated an estimated 12,000 Jamaican children. Its academic record includes decades of Spelling Bee dominance — more than 35 Kingston championships and at least nine national titles — alongside a strong tradition of excellence in the Common Entrance and PEP examinations. Co-curricular achievements span championship track and field, football, netball and swimming, national festival medals in music, dance and speech, and artwork featured on national commemorative stamps.