Westwood College held its Annual Speech and Prize Giving Day on Friday last week.
In his speech the principal, James Masangomai, commended the students for their hard work and dedication, which had resulted in impressive academic and extracurricular achievements throughout the year.
The highlight of the day, however, was the presentation of awards and prizes to deserving students in various categories such as academic excellence, leadership, community service and sportsmanship.
The recipients were visibly elated as they walked up to receive their awards.
Overall, the Annual Speech and Prize Giving Day reflected the school’s commitment to academic excellence, personal development and community engagement.
Below is principal, James Masangomai’s speech.
The idea I want to put to you is that mankind as a species is not a complete being. Individuals must learn to develop further by their own efforts.
If they don’t, then they lose the capacity for development.
Our individual evolution depends on our understanding of what we can become and what we have to do to achieve our goals.
Always remember that sunshine falls on all surfaces, but it is only the polished surfaces that can reflect the light.
Polish yourself and reflect the light! We may all face similar circumstances, but it is your choice to live under the circumstances or above them.
“Any person can turn anything they wish into an excuse or a stepping-stone.
“If you let your excuses take root, they begin to dominate your life and become a nauseating song of your life, for example, loss of a parent.
Somebody will always have a reason why it is risky; why the project will fail and why everything will not work – they call them prophets of doom. Let not them make you give up.
If you let other people set the limits for you as to how far you can go, you will be frustrated all your life and will achieve little beyond what has been done before.
Actions have always spoken louder than words. By their fruits you will know them, Matthew 7:20, The bible tells us.
In the process of not giving up, always remember; self – evaluation enables us to know our limitations and discover our own potential. It is impossible to know ourselves properly without knowing our defects and shortcomings. Only by self-evaluation can you establish what you stand for and these values create the basis of your self-concept.
Your self-concept is like your command centre. What you believe about yourself becomes true as you act in a manner which is consistent with those beliefs.
You, for example, have a self-concept for how you dress, how you walk, how you speak, the kind of student you are etc.
Your self-concept can have an impact on to what extent you believe you can be the best student in a particular subject/ learning area!
Too many learners short-circuit their chances for success by having a low self-image restricting one’s perception of what, you can do by self-imposed limitations caused by low or negative self-concept.
We must learn to live our lives in a society of compromise, without being compromised.
We must remain unsatisfied without being dissatisfied and we must realise that any conditioning created by the mind of the individual can be reversed or be re-created.
More importantly, we must recognise our unique possibilities, making our own decisions about who we are and what we will become, rather than passively submitting to the power of our environment.
INFRASTRUCTURE
To begin with infrastructure development.
The college has an ambitious programme of development on its cards.
To date, a three-classroom block was constructed.
In addition, a block was converted into a state-of-the-art science laboratory.
Our learners will be able to take up Pure Sciences.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
It may be an injustice of gargantuan proportion if I finish my speech without making reference to our academic performance as a college. In this area, we are an uncelebrated success story.
We have done extremely well on this front. Testimony to that, I have a snippet of names of our students who are in different universities.
Our A-Level average percentage pass rate stands at 85%, while that for O-Level is at an average of 65% – admittedly there is room for improvement and we are alive to that fact.
CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Westwood College is a power house when it comes to excelling in sporting activities.
In the just ended sporting season, we scooped gold medals in basketball, volleyball, netball, chess and darts up to national level.
In soccer, we managed a silver medal. However, for soccer, our focus is to participate in the NASH games going forward.
Not only that, we will be offering soccer scholarships with effect from 2024.