St Kitts and Nevis: Janiecia Powell receives Joshua Obadiah Williams Award from CFBC

St Kitts and Nevis: At a modest celebration at the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) on March 23, 2022 (Wednesday), Janiecia Powell received the Joshua Obadiah Williams Award. The monetary prize, established in 1995, is awarded to the Division of Teacher Education graduate who receives the top grades in the University of the West Indies Examinations and the teaching practicum.

Janiecia, a number of the CFBC Class of 2021, is an Early Childhood Education major who earned a near-perfect GPA. She is the daughter of Janice David and Larington Powell and comes from the quiet neighbourhood of Prospect Estate in Nevis.

The award commemorates educator, philosopher, poet, disciplinarian and humanitarian – Joshua Obadiah Williams. He was born to Albert Victor and Adosha Elisabeth Williams on October 11, 1926, in Barnes Ghaut, Nevis. After completing the Seventh Standard Certificate at 16, he became a pupil-teacher at St Thomas School in Lowland, Nevis. He moved to St Kitts in 1948, where he continued to teach and research.

From 1955 to 1957, he attended Barbados’ Erdiston Teachers College, after which he taught at the Cayon School and subsequently the St. Paul’s School. In 1965, he enrolled in the University of the West Indies, Mona, where he earned his Professional Certified in Education. When he returned to St Kitts, he was appointed headmaster of the Molineux All Age School (later renamed The Joshua Obadiah Williams Primary School). Joshua Obadiah Williams retired as headmaster of the Basseterre Boys’ School in the early 1980s.

Recently Joshua Obadiah Williams Primary School witnessed a massive fire on March 19, 2022 (Saturday). Molineux village, where the school is situated, is within the constituency of Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris.

The ravaged fire was extinguished by the officers St Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services (SKNFRS) at around 10 PM. According to the officers, the fire has damaged the classrooms from Kindergarten to grade five, and their contents were destroyed.