The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Corona

  • Corona celebrates students at prize-giving day

    Over the years, the nation’s education sector has been bedeviled with crises. It has experienced several debilitating challenges. The first and, perhaps the greatest challenge facing Nigeria and making it difficult for good quality education that is capable of bringing about sustainable development is inadequate funding by federal, state and local governments.

    However, all hopes are not lost as government at all levels and operators of the system are still thriving to churn out the best and improve the system and make the schools produce quality students. Corona School is one such success story.

    Although November 18 was a day set aside by Corona Secondary School, Agbara to celebrate the excellent performance of her students, and the glory the students brought to the school, this year’s celebration was different. It celebrated its students who brought honour and academic laurels to the school.

    Ikenna Uruakpa and Anna Adobamen emerged as second best in the prestigious Standardised Aptitude Test (SAT) Examinations (SAT) award. Not only that, another of the students, Ibukun Oduntan scored an impressive 344 out of 400 in the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination (JAMB UTME), to emerge as second highest nation-wide.

    Two other students of the school emerged as some of the top five in the Nigerian Stock Exchange Essay Competition.

    In her opening speech, the Principal of the school, Mrs. Chinedum Oluwadamilola said: “It is good to be excellent in all aspects of life. It is a time to celebrate our commitment to values and purpose. We celebrate example, we celebrate efforts of those students who have made huge and commendable progress in their fields of learning.

    “We celebrate each child’s determined effort. Not only in academic pursuit, but in all spheres such as sports, arts and behaviour, among others. Just to mention that our speech and prize- giving day is about what happened the previous session.

    “So, this is the speech and prize-giving day for the 2017/2018 academic session. In the year under review, our students; some of whom are alumni now, performed fantastically well in their public examinations, even as many of them exceeded their own expectations. They made excellent grades in the last May/June West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), with about 96 per cent pass at distinction level; in English, Mathematics, and other subjects.

    “Among that set, we had Ibukun Oduntan who achieved an impressive score of 344 out of 400 in JAMB UTME, making her the candidate with the second highest score nation-wide. I will also add that she wasn’t a lone figure, not a one-eyed man in the valley of the blind. I would add that 10 of our students scored above 300, and 19 of them scored between 280 and 299.

    “We are proud to say that many of them have since moved on to top brand global schools and they are doing very well. Also worth mentioning is the outstanding results of these students in the IGCMCE, while many individual students obtained enviable results, two of our students currently in year 12 now, Anna Adobamen and Ikenna Uruakpa were stars in all the subjects they registered for.

    On the international stage, we are making giant strides as you can see. As impressive as our results in statistics abound, it is important to remind ourselves that complete education transcends any intellectual feat; it includes other aspects of life.

    Speaking on the theme for the day “Exploring Creative Excellence”, the Guest Speaker and Managing Director of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Mr. Adam Nuru, said: “Every time I come to this school, I feel butterflies in my tommy, and I still get them now several years after. I am not sure I am the right person to speak about excellence because haven heard all the things said about the achievements of the school, I would say excellence only is born here. This is where you have it.

    “And every year I come, I see more and more progress being made, and I feel that I must pause to say thank you to the council and faculty of the school. They have made parents of wards in this school a very proud and full of respect. The theme of today’s speech bothers around excellence which is born here, and because it’s about the children, my focus is on them.

    “What is excellence? For me, it is really when you become good at something, and it could be anything. You are said to have excelled when you become best in what you do. We all have our callings and peculiar areas of interest where we use our strength.

    “So, just tell yourself that ‘I want to be the best in what I do’.  You don’t achieve excellence by just being you; it’s by beating the person that is in you, and even doing better, and better, and better.  It’s about achieving a goal; it’s all about winning, and about taking part and commitment to becoming better at something.

    “How do you reconcile failure with success or excellence? If you don’t try, you don’t fail. Do you think the light bulb was developed on the first day of trying? Sometimes you fail, but never forget your goal, and keep trying until you get it right. If you don’t fail, you may never learn the best way to achieve your goals.

    “So, failure is something that would happen, but we must keep on trying harder and harder, and doing better and better every day.”

    Nuru ended his speech reference to what an anonymous writer said about excellence. “Excellence is not a skill, it is by attitude”. It is the attitude that you put into what you do that would determine if you will excel in it or not. Imbibe the right attitude.”

    In a chat with reporters, Uruakpa, a co-winner of the SAT award said: “I want to thank my teachers, my parents and my peers. They actually helped me a lot, especially the external teachers that came to help us. If it were by my efforts a lone, I wouldn’t be here at all.

    I am so happy to be this celebrated.

    “Corona is a very lovely and great school with a history of excellence, which still reflects in this present day. I’ll only advise every other student to work hard and put in more efforts in whatsoever they find difficult doing, and with enough practice, they will definitely become perfect in it”.

    Adobamen, the other co-winner of the SAT award expressed her joy as she said: “I feel really excited and happy about being one of the best in the world at this level. I owe all thanks to God Almighty, the school in general, our ever-supportive teachers and my parents.

    “I appreciate the fact that the school went the extra miles to get external teachers to help us prepare for the SSCE examination. It was really awesome to learn from top professionals you can ever find in different academic fields in Nigeria. They were really encouraging. I believe with the milestone I achieved in my academic pursuit, other students could be encouraged by putting in more efforts to get the best results, even one better than mine”.

    Founded in the 60s, Corona School has been operating both primary and nursery arms since inception. Since its secondary arm was founded over two decades ago, it has been one success story to another. Sulaiman at the event

     

  • Ambassadors College, Corona, others bag Africa Top School Award

    Accolade came the way of outstanding schools and administrators at the 2017 Africa Top School award, which took place at the National Theatre, Lagos.

    Some of the schools that received award in various categories are Corona Secondary School, Agbara, Loral International Secondary School, Festac and Igbesa, Sagab College, Ikorodu, Christ The King College, Odolewu- Ijebu Ode,  Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School, Maryland, Oritamefa Baptist Model School, Ibadan; Barachel Model Colleges Agege and Iju and Starfield Private College.

    Others are Epe Grammar School, Ifako Inter School, Agege: Ijaiye Housing Estate Senior Grammar School, Oriwu Senior Model College Ikorodu, Keme Balogun Senior Grammar School Ikorodu, Surulere Senior Secondary School, Lagos State Senior Model Colleges ( Igokuta, Igbonla and Kankon), The Lagooz Schools, Orile-Agege, and the Crescent International High School, Sango- Ota and The Ambassadors College, Ota, adjudged the outstanding school of the year .

    Also, the 2017 Distinguished Principal of the year award went to Olatokunbo Pintan of Epe Grammar School.  Others newly crowned unique leaders in educational administration are Mrs. Ajoke Gbeleyi, Director Private Education and Special Programs of the Lagos State Ministry of Education, Rev. Father Kunle Balogun of the Ijebu Ode Catholic Diocese Mrs Modupe Akinbami, principal of Ijaiye Housing Estate Senior Grammar school, who recently won the Lagos State productivity award.

     

  • Corona School anniversary lecture today

    Corona School anniversary lecture today

    Corona Schools will hold its 60th anniversary lecture at Muson Centre Lagos today.

    The lecture forms a part of an array of activities that have been lined up between October and November to celebrate the school’s three score’s anniversary.

    Director, Corona School Trust Council, Mrs Olufunto Igun, said the lecture with the theme: ‘Teaching and learning in the next generation’ is part of Corona School’s contributions to the nation’s education sector.

    According to her, the lecture will be delivered by Johann Ari, of the Larusson Centre for Digital, Analytics and Adaptive Learning, United States of America.

    The lecture, Igun said, would also feature an interactive session among participants drawn from education, civil society parents, school administratiors and government representatives among others.

    It will be recalled that CSTC kicked off the anniversary last month with a press briefing, Alumni get together as well as an art exhibition.

     

  • Corona at 60

    Corona at 60

    All old pupils of Corona Schools will on Saturday converge at the Corona School Trust Council (CSTC) Lagos office in Ikoyi to inaugurate the Corona Alumni Association.

    This would kick off a series of events that would end in December in celebration of the school’s 60th anniversary.

    CSTC Director Mrs. Olufunto Igun, who announced the programme in Ikoyi on Monday, said the milestone event would not only celebrate the school’s success story, but provide a platform to peep into the future.

    “At Corona, we have a stable and supportive structure across board. This has been able to drive our vision and mission statement. Over the last 60 years, we have stood for excellence, integrity, balance, quality and professionalism. We continue to scan the environment and aspire to reach the future generations. These qualities would help us grow continually.”

    Sequel to the alumni inauguration, there will be a charity walk on Saturday, October 3, from Corona School Ikoyi to its arm on Victoria Island.

    Mrs Igun said the proceeds from the exercise would fund the nine schools adopted by Corona.

    Other activities include: anniversary exhibition (October 8-10); public lecture at the MUSON Centre (November 5); anniversary dinner (November 27) and a music and drama concert in December.

    Strategy Development Manager, CSTC, Ms. Ngozi Ebo, said a number of reputable individuals across the academia have been shortlisted for the lecture, with the theme: “Next generation-Teaching and learning”.

    “It promises to be an exciting experience. The lecture will form our modest contribution into re3awakening consciousness into education in Nigeria,” she said.

    CSTC Director of Education Mrs. Moreni Ihonor said Corona was committed to grooming the Nigerian child with global focus through its curriculum and co-curricula activities.

    “At Corona, we do not only groom children with global orientation, but also focus on training and retraining of staff. We are proud of ourselves and we believe in the dignity of labour. Some of us holding key position in Corona today are either former students or have our children in the school; so, our commitment is high.”

     

     

  • Corona celebrates director at teachers awards

    The Director, Corona School Trust Council (CSTS) Mrs Olufunto Igun least expected the ‘bombshell’ that awaited her at the seventh Corona Staff awards.

    Only five days earlier, she had celebrated her 50th birthday low key. But, little did she realise she was being ‘ambushed’ for another bash at the Corona School Lekki, venue of the event, and the latest addition to Corona Schools, which has also earned a new name- ‘Five Star School’ owing to its location and aesthetics.

    However, Mrs Igun seemed to have taken the shine off several other awardees, who were split into teaching and non-teaching categories.

    “Permit me to divert a bit”, said the Chairman, CSTS Mr Adedotun Sulaimon midway into the event.

    “We want to celebrate one of our own, our very dear Mrs Igun, who clocked 50 on Monday, but only decided to celebrate it low key. We want to tell her that we appreciate her. She is a role mother and a model, and we want to wish her a happy birthday despite that she clocked 50 few days ago.”

    And so began the ’emergency birthday party’, Mrs Igun in dazzling smile, sauntered into the middle of the crowd, comprising mostly Corona workers who have branded themselves in the school wine emblem with wome decked in flying headgears.

    Mrs Igun told The Nation that the event was remarkable because it coincided with Nigeria’s 100 years’ amalgamation, adding that it also affords the nation the opportunity to reappraise education development over a century.

    She described the event tagged: ‘Impacting our world’ as a custom in Corona to realign staff to the endless bond they all share.

    The awardees, Igun explained, were considered based on virtues such as resourcefulness, personal development, proficiency, broad mindedness, comportment, being a team player and above all imbibing the Corona ethics and integrity.

    “This is to reaffirm the bond, the love we all share. What we set out to do is to appreciate the importance of our staff, and to reward our long-serving staff. That is why we also had the long-service award. We hardly all come together like this.

    Oladepo Alo won the Corona Model Secondary School Teacher award, Morenikeji Anietie Joseph clinched the Corona Model Nursery School Teacher award, while Babatunde Olomo emerged the Corona Model Primary Teacher award.

    Olomo, who is from Corona School, Lekki, attributed his achievement to the cooperation of all.

    A teacher of Mathematics, Olomo said his ability to demystify the subject endear him to his pupils.

    “As a teacher at the basic level, I understand that I must not miss the opportunity to stimulate my pupils’ interest in maths because that is when pupils’ opinion about the subject is formed. Once they lose interest at the elementary level, it will be difficult to get it right later in life. Aside my teaching role, I’m also involved in photography and making of newsletter and yearbook which is outside my role but I use it assist the school,” he said.