Pearl B. Larsen promtées exit the ceremony, with the first and second honors students, Nyack Nathaniel and Zayden Turner, leading the class. Photo Credit: TSEHAI ALFRED, V.I. CONSORTIUM
As graduation ceremonies begin throughout the territory, Claude O Markoe, Pearl B. Larsen, and Alfredo Andrews School held their promotional ceremonies Monday on St. Croix, while the Jane E. Tuitt Elementary School, and the Yvonne E. Milliner-Bowsky Elementary School did the same on St. Thomas.
The Pearl B. Larsen and Claude O. Markoe School communities gathered to celebrate their students’ respective transition to high school and middle school at promotional ceremonies which looked towards the promoted students’ academic futures and reflected on their past successes.
Claude O. Markoe held its event at St. Croix Educational Complex High School, celebrating the promotion of 47 sixth-grade students to middle school. The Pearl B. Larsen ceremony, held at the school’s home auditorium, also celebrated the promotion of 47 students – however these are eighth-graders who will be attending high school in the fall.
Alumni of both schools gave keynote speeches to the promoted students, recalling memories of their adolescent educational experiences at their respective alma maters. Because her own eighth-grade promotional ceremony was held virtually, Jayda Brown, alumna and keynote speaker for the Pearl B. Larson ceremony, will be walking across an auditorium stage for the first time this coming Friday as a graduate of St. Croix Central High School. “While we may have missed out on the traditional ceremony, we gained something far more valuable: resilience, adaptability, and the knowledge that we can overcome any obstacle life throws our way,” Brown told the soon-to-be high school students on Monday, urging them to employ those learned skills in their future academic life.
Pearl B. Larsen additionally recognized the first and second honors students of the class— Nyack Nathaniel and Zayden Turner, who were respectively described as “intelligent, athletic, [and] humble,” and “a testament to the power of perseverance, passion, and the unwavering support of those who believe in him.” While introducing the students, Assistant Principal Anna Marie Gordon said, “I’m so proud that they are young men leading the class.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Etta Lee Pickering-Mitchell, an alumnus of the Claude O. Markoe School promoted class of 1989, reflected on the lasting impact her elementary school teachers had on her academic journey. However, as the Assistant Principal of Eulalie Rivera School, Dr. Pickering-Mitchell also told the promotées, several of whom may very well end up as her future students, that the “real work begins now.”
Claude O Markoe School also selected and highlighted first and second honors students during their ceremony— Eric Soto and Larissa Lamothe, respectively. Another accomplishment of the promoted class was celebrated by the schools community— all six all six graduating students who were recommended to apply to the St. Croix Educational Complex High School’s magnet program were accepted. “Personally, my son was in a magnet program at Woodson and I'm so happy to hear that all the students who participated in the interview process were able to get accepted. That speaks volumes as to what the teachers are teaching the students and preparing the students for the future,” Dr. Pickering-Mitchell said.
Reflecting on the Claude O. Marko ceremony, Dr. Pickering-Mitchell told the Consortium, “I love to celebrate the small successes, and I look forward to seeing what they're going to do in the future.”
Meanwhile in her closing remarks, Pearl B. Larsen’s Principal Joanna Brow highlighted a collective achievement of the promoted class— the lack of behavioral issues. “They are one of our best eighth-grade classes,” Principal Brow boasted to parents.
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