A $5,000 BTC scholarship was awarded to The Bahamas Primary School Student of the Year (BPSSY) at Xavier’s Lower School’s commencement ceremony yesterday to graduating Donovan Butler.
At the ceremony, held in the auditorium, the BPSSY Foundation and BTC officially presented the young student with a towering trophy and the Sir Clement Maynard Memorial Floating Plaque, which will be on display at his Alma Mater, for the next year. This is the plaque’s second time at Xavier’s Lower School in 4 years, with alumnus Jared Fitzgerald winning the award in 2010. 11-year-old Donavan Butler discovered 2 weeks ago that he had outclassed 117 other outstanding nominees to receive the BTC sponsored $5,000 scholarship award. At his graduation ceremony he expressed humility, stating that hard work is the key to emulating his success. “To other students who may not feel that education is that important, I say work hard because a good education is very important in society today.”
Jerome Sawyer, BTC’s Senior Public Relations Manager echoed young Butler’s encouragements to future students, stating that fostering success in Bahamian students is a strong mandate for the company, and a large motivation in sponsoring this award for the past 10 years.
“BPSSY is a perfect fit for us and we’ve been a sponsor for 10 years now,” said Mr. Sawyer. “We see this scholarship as a way to encourage young people to continually drive to succeed, even at this early stage. Rewards are the result of success, which does not come without hard work. This year’s winner, Donavan Butler, really embodies this.”
Donovan Butler is the 18th recipient of the annual BPSSY Award. Since the organisation launched in 1997, nearly $1 million in scholarships and awards have been presented to the various winners and honourable mentions. BPSSY Foundation President and CEO Ricardo Deveaux said that the Foundation is proud to provide this programme for such remarkable students at no cost to their parents and is grateful to the sponsors that make it possible.
“All of our nominees are outstanding and we recognise that in a few different ways - through commemorative trophies and medals to the 118 nominees, various honourable mentions and special awards, and of course our titular scholarship,” says Mr. Deveaux.
“Also, the Foundation flew in 69 of our Family Island students this year. As you can imagine it is a challenge to raise over $120,000 in awards and travel every year. So, we are extremely grateful for our reliable, long-term sponsors such as our major sponsor BTC, who fully funds our main scholarship and has been supporting this programme for a decade.”
BTC Congratulates Donovan Butler, Primary School Student of the year with a trophy and $5,000 scholarship L-R: Ricardo Deveaux, President and CEO, Bahamas Primary School Student of the Year Foundation; Donovan Butler, Primary School Student of the Year; Jerome Sawyer, Senior Manager of Public Relations, BTC.
