Oakcrest International School holds first graduation and awards ceremony
A researcher from the Department of Psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Dr. Frederick Anyan has admonished school children to always consider reading a habit to help broaden their knowledge for a brighter future.
He equally encouraged them to exude bravery at the face of adversity and always embrace integrity in discharge of their duties both at home and school to enable them win the trust of their parents, teachers as well as their fellows.
“When you do that you gain the trust of your parents and your teachers and your colleagues as well and they can turn to you for leadership and that is very important”.
Dr. Anyan made this known while delivering a speech on the theme: “Knowledge, wisdom and perseverance, one step at time” at a ceremony to mark the first graduation of pupils of the Oakcrest International University in Accra on Saturday December 11, 2021.
The colorful ceremony which was graced by the crème de la crème of the society, government officials, and stakeholders in the education industry including parents, teachers and guardians and members of the general public marked the graduation of eighteen (18) kindergarten two scholars to class one.
The highpoint of the ceremony was the presentation of certificates of merit to the young graduates but the thrill of the occasion came from a delightful line-up choreographed Ghanaian dances and drama sketches, poetry recitals and above all the presentation certificates and awards to some deserving students.
The awards categories witnessed little Akweley Ahatefou adjudged the overall best student of KG 2, while John Quaicoe was pronounced the overall best student of grade 1. Also, Augusta Anarfi was declared the overall best student of grade 2.
Other winners include Blessing Kweku Ansah Asinor (overall best student for grade 3), Dominic Quaicoe (overall best student for grade 4), Emmanuel Ayittah (overall best student for grade 5) and Caroline Musah Latifah (overall best student for grade 6)
The first ever graduation awards ceremony also witnessed the recognition of some teachers who have excelled themselves under the best teachers awards category.
Mr. Sasu Oliviera Emmanuel was adjudged the winner while Mr. Ameyaw Otmar was pronounced the first runner up including Ms. Rhoda Antwi who was declared the second runner up respectively.
Delivering his keynote address, the Presiding Member of Ga West Municipal Assembly, Mr. Solomon Asante underscored the need for teachers, parents and guardians to cultivate a secured positive relationships with their children to help support their development and learning.
He therefore called on teachers, parents and guardians to do the needful by fostering a closer relationship with their wards which can lead to their proper development to further guarantee a good future for them.
In his closing remarks as the chairman of the occasion, Dr. Frederick Anyan encouraged the graduates to always make it a point to always seize every opportunity that comes their way and effectively utilize them to their advantage to become successful in life.
While congratulating the young scholars for excelling as graduates, he quickly appealed to their parents and guardians to do their possible best to ensure their ambitions are well nurtured in order to secure a better future for them.
The Principal of the Oakcrest International School (OIS), Mr. Sampson Gyasi Agyepong in his speech observed that the institute was built out of the passion for children and the desire to raise generations of God fearing future leaders coupled with the urge to offer quality education to Ghanaian children at an affordable cost.
“We at OIS believe that the key to a bright and successful future for our children is through quality education”.
Oakcrest International School was established on September 6, 2019 with only 6 pupils. Within some few months, through hard work of the staff the numbers increased to 18.
In March 2020, the institute encountered a major setback which led to its temporal closure for a year as a result of coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
“This setback broke our hearts but as Henry Ford wisely said, coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success. We look back together, kept together and worked together to achieve success”.
The Principal who attributed the exponential growth of the institute to the efforts of teachers and parents in a congratulatory statement said: “This setback did not define us, instead we conquered”, he said while commending the school staff and parents for their support and saw them off the woods.
OIS currently boasts of 121 students occupying various grades from January 2021 till now after the ban on the lockdown was lifted. The institute is also recently blessed with 17 hardworking staff out of which 13 are teaching staff while 4 of them are non-teaching staff.
Mr. Agyepong averred that the institute cannot boast of its achievements without mentioning its creative and innovative methods of tutoring the children.
According to him, the pupils have a close relationship with their teacher’s thereby building confidence in them to seek support for their academic and psychological development.
“We also ensure that every pupil is treated equally and with respect, a virtue we borrowed from the Norwegian teaching methodology”, he posited.
Outlining the school’s future plan which seeks to enhance students’ welfare and equally promote quality teaching and learning, Mr. Agyepong assured that the school has projections of continuing the school’s uncompleted structure to help provide junior secondary education to the pupils.
He therefore assured parents that from the next academic year, the JSS unit block will be completed to pave the way for the school to admit junior high pupils from January 2022.
He also indicated that there would be a construction of school canteen intended to serve both the school children and staff and guarantee clean and good environment for preparation of their meals.
Source:Joseph Wemakor|Ghana24.org