NorthGate celebrates ten-year journey

About 400 supporters of NorthGate College (NGC), including students, parents, alumni, members of academic and administrative staff and other stakeholders, gathered at the UWI Learning Resource Centre (LRC) to look back at the foundational values that have brought success over the last ten years and to look forward to the challenges of the next decade and beyond.

The 90-minute ceremony included a pair of multimedia photo montages and a series of pre-recorded videologues, in which members of the NGC community spoke candidly about how the College’s values undergird their individual lives.

The ceremony also included a brief presentation by Dr Noel Woodroffe, the school’s Founder and Executive Chairman, who underscored that the school’s mission has remained consistent from the very beginning.

Since its launch in 1999, NorthGate College has been involved in providing high quality, values-based education to the youth of the nation. In addition, the College has invested in the overall improvement of the education experience in Trinidad and Tobago by hosting several education development seminars, which have been attended by other secondary school principals and national educators.

The formal ceremony, which ended with an outdoor cocktail reception on the LRC Grounds, provided the forum for the ceremonial handing over of leadership from former Director, Cecile Taylor, to the school’s new Director, Yolande La Pierre.

Taylor identified obedience, flexibility, sacrifice and creativity as the four pillars of her leadership style in the first ten years of the College’s existence, and she expressed great confidence in La Pierre’s ability to lead the school into the future.

La Pierre, when her turn came to speak, mirrored her predecessor’s confidence in the longevity of the foundational pillars undergirding the school’s success over the last decade and the ability to lead it into the future.

“People join themselves to the NorthGate journey because we believe in what we do; we are committed to a cause. The product that we see ten years later is as a result of everyone who has become a part of our community giving of himself. You do not just attend NorthGate College—you become part of the College. This is what makes NorthGate College different; this is what makes us able to continue to produce good fruit,” said La Pierre.

The celebration, was one highlight of the College’s year-long tenth anniversary activities. Earlier this year, the College held a special Sports Day at the Larry Gomes Stadium and an Awards Ceremony at the LRC, UWI St Augustine.