U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS—Governor Albert Bryan Jr, along with Department of Education Commissioner Racquel Berry-Benjamin and other Department of Education officials hosted an awards ceremony to celebrate the achievements of Valedictorian and Salutatorian graduates from the territory’s high schools Friday at Government House in St. Croix.
District Insular Superintendents Stefan Jürgen (STT/ STJ) and Carlos McGregor (STX) both shared words of encouragement with the students in attendance and urged them to continue their love for learning as they move toward their future endeavors.
Commissioner Racquel Berry Benjamin also encouraged the students to continue learning and charged the students in attendance with a call to action to partake in transforming education in the Virgin Islands. Berry Benjamin also encouraged the students to come back and be part of the solution to the prevalent issues in the territory.
“Teaching is not just academics,” said Berry-Benjamin, “I want to encourage you to continue to be learners and to know that you can be a part of solving the problems in our community.”
In his remarks at Friday’s ceremony, Governor Bryan congratulated the students for their hard work and likened their success to the relentless pursuit of excellence.
“You didn’t want to be top ten. You wanted to be number one, and that is relentless,” the governor exclaimed. “That is hard work all the time— for every test, you had to do it right, and that is what we are going to try to do in these Virgin Islands, and we need you to do it.”
“You are the people who will be employers. You are the people that are going to reinvent the world. You are the ones who are going to provide energy solutions so that our WAPA rates can go down to two kilowatts per hour,” the governor continued.
The students in attendance, representing each of the territory’s public, private and parochial schools, as well as adult continuing education, was awarded a token of appreciation from Governor Bryan and invited with their family members to join the governor for a luncheon at the close of the Friday’s ceremony.
The students recognized at Friday’s ceremony are:
| N’kayla | Hughes | St. Joseph Catholic High School | St. Croix District | Valedictorian |
| Kayla | Williams | St. Joseph Catholic High School | St. Croix District | Salutatorian |
| Isaiah | Stevens | Good Hope Country Day School | St. Croix District | Valedictorian |
| David M. | Conhoff | Good Hope Country Day School | St. Croix District | Salutatorian |
| Stacy | Fredrick | Seventh Day Adventist School | St. Croix District | Valedictorian |
| Mahlana | Graham | Seventh Day Adventist School | St. Croix District | Salutatorian |
| Micaya R. | Labadie | St. Croix Educational Complex High School | St. Croix District | Valedictorian |
| Mojana Uhuru Tafari | Denis | St. Croix Educational Complex High School | St. Croix District | Salutatorian |
| Jayla | Norman | St. Croix Central High School | St. Croix District | Valedictorian |
| Giovane | Barnes | St. Croix Central High School | St. Croix District | Salutatorian |
| Daisy | Sanchez | Adult Continuing Education | St. Croix District | Valedictorian |
| Kenisha A. | Henderson | Adult Continuing Education | St. Croix District | Salutatorian |
| Jalia | Wheatley | All Saints Cathedral School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Valedictorian |
| Diantha | Matthews | All Saints Cathedral School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Salutatorian |
| Shamir | Smith | STT/STJ Seventh Day Adventist School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Valedictorian |
| Deanna | Hunt | STT/STJ Seventh Day Adventist School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Salutatorian |
| Lilliana | Martinez | Gifft Hill School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Valedictorian |
| Ethan | Popo | Gifft Hill School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Salutatorian |
| Elliana A. E. | Wyllis | Ivanna Eudora Kean High School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Valedictorian |
| Jahavheed A. | George | Ivanna Eudora Kean High School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Salutatorian |
| Jordina Kristal | Pierre | Charlotte Amalie High School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Valedictorian |
| Pamela | Collin Franco | Charlotte Amalie High School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Salutatorian |
| Julia | Lapomarede | Adult Continuing Education | St. Thomas/St. John District | Valedictorian |
| Jean | Liberny | Adult Continuing Education | St. Thomas/St. John District | Salutatorian |
| Nichel | Daniel | St. Peter & Paul Catholic School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Valedictorian |
| Biton | Charles | St. Peter & Paul Catholic School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Salutatorian |
| Talia | Feshbach | Montessori and Peter Gruber International Academy | St. Thomas/St. John District | Valedictorian |
| Axel | Bartsch | Montessori and Peter Gruber International Academy | St. Thomas/St. John District | Salutatorian |
| Bethany | Vazquez Smith | Antilles School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Valedictorian |
| Maggie | Huang | Antilles School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Valedictorian |
| Grace | Randall | Antilles School | St. Thomas/St. John District | Salutatorian |
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