Bryan Hosts Academic Achievement Awards Ceremony For Valedictorian And Salutatorian Graduates

ST. CROIX — Government House said Saturday that Governor Albert Bryan along with Department of Education Commissioner Racquel Berry-Benjamin and other D.O.E. officials hosted an awards ceremony to celebrate the achievements of valedictorian and salutatorian graduates from the territory’s high schools Friday at Government House on St. Croix.

District Insular Superintendents Stefan Jürgen (STT/ STJ) and Carlos McGregor (STX) both shared words of encouragement with the students in attendance and urged them to continue their love for learning as they move toward their future endeavors, according to the release.

Mrs. Berry-Benjamin also encouraged the students to continue learning and charged the students in attendance with a call to action to partake in transforming education in the Virgin Islands, Government House said. She also encouraged the students to come back and be part of the solution to the prevalent issues in the territory.

“Teaching is not just academics. I want to encourage you to continue to be learners and to know that you can be a part of solving the problems in our community,” she said.

According to Government House, Mr. Bryan congratulated the students for their hard work and likened their success to the relentless pursuit of excellence.

“You didn’t want to be top ten. You wanted to be number one, and that is relentless,” he said. “That is hard work all the time— for every test, you had to do it right, and that is what we are going to try to do in these Virgin Islands, and we need you to do it.”

The governor added, “You are the people who will be employers. You are the people that are going to reinvent the world. You are the ones who are going to provide energy solutions so that our WAPA rates can go down to two cents per kilowatt hour.”

The students in attendance, representing each of the territory’s public, private and parochial schools, as well as adult continuing education, was awarded a token of appreciation from the territory’s leader and invited their family members to join Mr. Bryan for a luncheon at the close of the Friday’s ceremony.

The students recognized at Friday’s ceremony are:

Feature Image: Governor Bryan’s poses for a photo with territory’s Valedictorian and Salutatorian graduates July 26 at Government House in St. Croix.