Trio awarded named scholarships by Cornwall College’s Class of ‘85
Published:Wednesday | November 9, 2022 | 12:07 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
KYLE FLETCHER and Jonovi Gayle are the first set of students at Cornwall College to benefit from the Stafford Barrett Memorial scholarship fund which was created to enhance creative and technical skills in the arts.
The fund is named in honour of Barrett, a graduate of Cornwall College and a former treasurer of the school’s Class of ‘85 scholarship fund. On Friday, November 4, its inaugural disbursement of $60,000 for the academic year 2022-23 was shared equally between Fletcher and Gayle.
Tyrique Richardson, a first-form student who matriculated from St James Preparatory School to the 126-year-old all-male educational institution, became the first recipient of the Odane Medley scholarship. The scholarship, valued at $50,000 and funded by the Odane Medley Fund Limited, was unveiled in memory of the Knox College student who died over two years ago. It was also presented through the school’s Class of ‘85 scholarship fund.
“We are pleased to be presenting two named scholarship awards for the first time. One is the inaugural Stafford Barrett Memorial for art, which is named in memory of our colleague, Class of ‘85 man of might and former treasurer of the Class of ‘85 scholarship fund, who unfortunately passed away earlier this year,” said Huntley Medley, immediate past chairman of the Class of ‘85 scholarship fund.
According to Medley, the members of the Class of ‘85 decided to honour Barrett, who passed away earlier this year, by naming an academic scholarship for deserving students with great potential and who are in need of assistance.
“… we want to remember him through the awarding of this particular scholarship,” Medley explained.
As for the Odane Medley Memorial scholarship, Medley announced that while his son did not attend Cornwall College, before his passing he was enraptured in keeping his memory alive by way of a scholarship.
“This scholarship is named in memory of my son, who passed away one year and two weeks to the date,” the senior Medley said.
He added: “He did not attend Cornwall College, but he always wanted to attend. He always said his father attended Cornwall College, and all his childhood friends attended Cornwall, but we did not win that argument with his mother who preferred another school, so he attended Knox College.”
“The Odane Medley scholarship award will be for a student who is matriculating to Cornwall College this year from St James Preparatory School, which is also one of Odane’s former schools,” said Medley of the criteria for persons to receive the scholarship. The awardee will be selected by administrators at that 57-year-old institution on St Claver’s Avenue.
Medley Sr also informed that prior to last week’s scholarship award presentation at the Cornwall College chapel, a similar scholarship was awarded at Knox College for a student who has matriculated from the Spalding Primary School in Clarendon, where Odane had also been a student.
Dr Michelle Pinnock, regional director for region four, Ministry of Education and Youth, lauded the effort of the Class of ‘85, who presented in excess of $2 million, which will benefit 42 students and a pool of teachers for this academic year.
Dr Pinnock encouraged the recipients to “strive to become lighthouses and to radiate new knowledge and a positive mindset”.
“To fathom the tremendous impact that each recipient will have on their peers, the family members and their community is certainly mind-boggling,” Dr Pinnock said. “The ministry encourages each recipient to use this donation to create and nurture an experience that uplifts, one that causes you to feel uncomfortable, uneasy as we make adjustments to our routine in order to guarantee excellence.”