Calabar High marks 110th anniversary with church service, lecture Loop Jamaica

Black Immigrant Daily News

In recognition of the 110th anniversary of Calabar High School, the all-male Kingston-based educational institution will host several activities to celebrate the occasion.

The celebrations will kickstart with a Founders’ Day Church Service on Sunday, September 11 at 9 am at Mona Baptist Church and annual Founders’ Day lecture on Monday, September 12 at 7 pm at Boulevard Baptist Church.

The lecture will be delivered by Dr Jermaine McCalpin, a Calabar Old Boy, associate professor at New Jersey City University, and thought-leader on African and Caribbean philosophies and political science.

McCalpin outlined that the lecture will examine the heritage of excellence built by the institution, which can be defined as an intergenerational transfer of wisdom and knowledge.

The lecture will also give insights into practices and guidelines, drawing from the Calabar experience, which demonstrates how all-male high schools can operate as a total institution developing all aspects of young men’s lives and not just a place for academic learning.

The lecture is timely, as discussions are ongoing in the development of programmes and strategies to address educational underachievement in boys and the positive resocialization of boys.

Additionally, the Calabar Old Boys Association (COBA) will host an annual gala and reunion dinner on Saturday, September 17 at 6:30 pm, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel with keynote speaker, Reverend Dr Howard Gregory, Archbishop of the West Indies Primate and Metropolitan and Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

The Founders’ Day activities celebrate the work of the institution’s co-founders, Reverends Ernest Price and David Davis, who established the school to provide high school education for the sons of the working class, the growing middle class and the sons of Baptist ministers.

Additionally, the occasion is used to reflect on the inspiration which brought the school into existence and the contribution made in grooming outstanding men in our society, many of whom have made notable contributions in the fields of politics, law, arts and culture science, sports, media and education.

Speaking ahead of the anniversary celebration, Owen Ferguson, public relations spokesman shared, “I hope that attendees will understand the importance of this milestone as one of the institutions that has fostered generations of young men since pre-independence to present and use the opportunity to connect or re-connect with their alma mater.”

Ferguson also invited fellow old boys to give back to the school, not just monetarily but in time and expertise.

He said this would help Calabar continue to mould and develop boys into self-reliant, honourable, courageous, socially responsible and morally conscious men that will contribute to the nation and the global community.

“The call is to continue the heritage of excellence,” he noted.

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