AS part of Bishop's High School’s centennial celebration, 100 outstanding alumni along with ten non-Bishopian distinguished contributors to the school will be honoured.
Bishopian Centennial Committee chair Claire Alexander-Braithwaite made the announcement as she addressed the media during a briefing on March 25 at Comfort Inn and Suites in Scarborough.
The school, Tobago's first public secondary school, was established on September 14, 1925 by Bishop Arthur Anstey and others.
Alexander-Braithwaite said the awards function is one of the premier events of the celebrations, noting that the awards function will seek individuals who would have gifted the island, the nation and the world with outstanding contributions as part of the Bishop’s legacy.
“This event is an awards function as an opportunity to highlight 100 of those who would have gone before. We continue to push boundaries and inspire others along the way. We expect to have an incredible lineup of honorees and we’re excited to hear their stories and achievements.”
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Alexander-Braithwaite said this is more than just an awards ceremony.
“It’s a reflection of the values that drive us and the people who make our mission a reality.”
Awards committee chairman George Leacock said he has the task of wilting thousands of eligible individuals down to a list of 100. He will be working alongside a committee which includes Arlon Morrison, Allan Richards, Aethne Yearwood and Noel Sosa.
"This exercise, in fact, for us started more than a year ago when we started establishing the guidelines that we would use to judge this giant scouting for talent contest where we have to come up with 100 winners, but they are all performing in different skilled areas.”
He said it would not only be limited to politicians, academics or even scientists, as they are also looking at sports, culture, music and philanthropy.
“We have essentially said that people who would have contributed to the school, the island, the country, the region and to the world, we are going to get that smorgasbord of presentations from people, and we will sift it down to a list that the majority of persons would say that was reasonable and done with a level of integrity.”
It has been tedious, he said, adding that information from over the last 20 years will be easier to get than those exceeding that period. He hastened to add that the final decision would be that of the committee.
With regards to the ten non-Bishopian, he said this process too will be interesting.
“You’ll immediately start to think of staff at the school, but I promise you it is likely not going to only include staff and teachers of the school who may not be Bishop's past students.”
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Public recommendations, he said, are encouraged.
On September 13, 2024, the centennial committee launched a year-long celebration with a thanksgiving service at St Andrew's Parish Church, followed by a procession through the streets of Scarborough. The event culminated with the unveiling of the centennial website and a packed calendar of events.
The school is the alma mater of the former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley and THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine, along with Chief Justice Ivor Archie, ex-attorneys general Russell Martineau, SC, and Basil Pitt, late former prime minister and president Arthur NR Robinson, Senate president Nigel de Freitas, Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley, former Caricom secretary general Dr Edwin Carrington, Victor Bruce, the first local to head the Central Bank, and former deputy governor of the Central Bank Dr Shelton Nicholls, and author, pannist and former journalist Edison Holder.
