The St George's Secondary School yesterday evening February 26, 2016 saw the rededication of the school's auditorium as students raised much needed cash towards the refurbishing of the space and the provision of new chairs. Photo: VINO

PTA President Karia J. Christopher who said that the refurbishing included a revamped public address system, the addition of a smart-board, new drapes and a refurbished stage. Photo: VINO

PTA Treasurer Kaisa Penn said that the school is doing what it must to ensure that the students are prepared to compete on a global level and said that she hopes to see smart-boards in every classroom. Photo: VINO

Mrs Vicki Samuel-Lettsome, the PTA's Public Relations Officer. Photo: VINO

Leader of the Opposition and Third District Representative Hon Julian Fraser RA attended the ceremony. Photo: VINO

Another section of the audience. Photo: VINO

“We basically wanted to update the auditorium here. The school is a relatively young school and very small and the PTA started off by wanting to have some very comfortable chairs to sit in and the dream became a little bigger and we said let's do a complete refurbishing of the auditorium,” said PTA President Karia J. Christopher.

She said that the refurbishing included a revamped public address system, the addition of a smart-board, new drapes and a refurbished stage.

“We really wanted to give our students a very comfortable setting because this is a religious school and they have to come here every morning and we wanted to make sure our students were comfortable as we say thanks to God,” she said.

According to Christopher, this small dream became a reality when they were able to raise $10,000 in one month. “so we thought it was important to have a small dedication ceremony to say thanks to all our supporters, our parents and especially our students who took part in this.

Christopher noted that as PTA President she wanted to have the rededication of the auditorium but she said that the credit must go to Mrs Vicki Samuel-Lettsome, the PTA's Public Relations Officer. “She came up with the idea of the 'Chair-athon' where similar to a pledge sheet, we made it affordable so that parents won't feel too much of a drain. She pitched it to the rest of us and we loved the idea and so we supported it,” she said.

Speaking at the event, PTA Treasurer Kaisa Penn said that the school is doing what it must to ensure that the students are prepared to compete on a global level and said that she hopes to see smart-boards in every classroom.

“This rededication this evening is a tiny step towards that greater goal of better education for our students, a better environment and we wanted them to have a space that would invoke in them a level of pride...and that resembles what St George's stands for,” she said.

Mrs Vicki Samuel-Lettsome said that the initial focus was how to get some chairs for the auditorium. “I pitched the idea of having a 'Chair-athon' to the PTA Executive Body and the entire PTA and Board supported it. The idea was to have persons pledge chairs to the school utilising some pledge cards; silver, gold and platinum. We wanted to make the process simple for both the students and parents hence each student received three pledge cards – silver worth one chair, gold two and platinum three,” she said.

She disclosed that about 30 students took part in the initiative and they raised approximately $10,000.

During the ceremony, the top student donors to the 'Chair-athon' were recognised for their efforts, an acknowledgement of special contributors and a recognition of St George's Secondary School stalwarts.