Three students from the Mary E Pigott Primary School were the first recipients of a new scholarship from the UPP’s St John’s Rural South caretaker, Gladys Potter, last week.

Shawyn Norton, Orianna Peddie and Micheal Ramirez were the first recipients of the Triumphing Through Adversity Scholarship.

The UPP representative spoke about why the scholarship mattered to her.

“I have a good relationship with the Golden Grove Primary School and the Mary E Pigott Primary… in campaigning and canvassing, you recognize that there are lots of children that have families where things are not the best for them, but in spite of this, some of these children, they go above and beyond and don’t allow their financial challenges and other type of challenges to stop them from performing,” Potter explained.

She noted that it was this determination to pursue academic excellence that she decided to award three students each from the two schools a scholarship to cover some of their schooling costs.

“I worked along with the teachers to select the persons, that they know who excels [in class], like not giving excuses for homework not being done, and these kinds of things, so they gave me some names and I chose from the names that they submitted.

“They will get up to $1000 in items that prepares them for going into a new school; they’ll get a scholarship for shoes…I did the same for uniforms where they will get two uniforms—the dress uniform and the regular uniform—and school supplies like books and that sort of stuff,” she said.

According to Potter, the students and parents expressed appreciation for the gesture of support.

Students from the Golden Grove Primary School will also receive their scholarship presentations at their graduation ceremony on July 11.