It is with eagerness and gratitude that I grasp this opportunity to pay tribute to Vaz Preparatory School on the occasion of its celebration of fifty years as an educational institution. God has granted me the gift of three precious children, and I have sent all three of them to Vaz Prep for their primary education. Our reasons for choosing Vaz are simple but consistent with what we believe. They are that Vaz Prep:

• Promotes Christian values and virtues and stresses these in all of its programmes.
• Provides a sound basic education in foundational areas of learning at this level.
• Enrolls students from a wide cross-section of the society, and therefore is not socially exclusive in terms of its student population.
• Provides an educational environment that, in addition to the academics, allows students to explore their talents in sports, music, dance and other forms of cultural expression.
• Fosters wholesome habits and insists on various routines that assist children in developing the self-discipline essential to success in life.

This explains why although the location of the school is not all convenient to us, we have made and continue to make the daily effort to make the trip to Dunoon Road. It is therefore with great pleasure and deep gratitude that I take this opportunity to salute Vaz Preparatory School on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of its founding.

Personally, I want to say thanks to Vaz for the education you gave to my two grown sons and for what you are giving to our little daughter. Indeed, I speak not only on behalf of my wife and myself, but also on behalf of one of my sisters who went to Vaz and who sent two sons to Vaz, and also other siblings who sent their children to Vaz. Accordingly, the Dalys’, the Hamiltons’ and the Millers all thank and salute Vaz Preparatory School on reaching this major milestone in its sojourn in Jamaican education.

May God continue to bless the school and may Vaz continue to be faithful to its educational mission.

Errol Miller Ph.D. C.D.

Professor of Teacher Education, University of the West Indies