Parents, guardians and other guests who graced the 7th Honoring program of the Light International School System—formerly, Turkish Light International School System, on Saturday, October 10, 2020, were kept at the edges of their seats for minutes as what many now describe as an “academic magic or miracle” unfolded before eyes when a 19-year old G. Alphonso Gaye, Jr. collected nearly every academic excellence award that was available on the school’s plate for the day.
Even passersby and onlookers, some of whom were seen struggling to take a glance through the well-fortified gate and other small openings on the school’s fence were clapping and shouting at the top of their voices as little G. Alphonso Gaye, Jr. was pronounced dux of the prospective graduating class of 23 students with an accumulated average of 93%, while he also collected eleven other prestigious awards to include Most Eloquent male, Most Brilliant male and the best performing student in English, Literature, History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and Economics.
If there were any doubting Thomases questioning the decision of the school to shower little Gaye with almost all of the awards, their doubts were decisively cleared by the honoree when he mounted the podium to deliver a well-crafted and captivating speech as valedictorian and class president, in which he paid homage to his parents first, administration and the teaching staff of Light International School System and his fellow classmates for a long, difficult but rewarding sojourn completed together.
He then called on parents, guardians and the state to ignore pleasure and keep braving the difficult realities of life and invest more in the education of their children in order to guarantee a prosperous, peaceful and stable future.
Gaye Jr. also encouraged other Liberian children across the country to abandon the pursuit of quick fortune and pleasure, and rather seek the path of solid and sustainable joy and mental stability that education brings to a family, community and nation.
Earlier, the guest speaker of the day, Senator G. Alphonso Gaye, Sr. drilled the pensively attentive audience into his rather sad but motivating story of how he came from grass to grace to make it in life, urging the Light International School students and all other Liberian children to take education very seriously and see it as the only guarantor for success and happiness.
Senator Gaye also paid tribute to his deceased mother and all other parents and guardians who are struggling to give their children the needed education despite the excruciating economic and social challenges.
He admonished young people to stop passing over opportunities repeatedly if they must achieve their dreams of becoming good citizens to help build their country.
The Grand Gedeh Senator who is also father of G. Alphonso Gaye, Jr., then reminded the students and audience not to consider every zogo (disadvantaged young man or woman) in the street today as one who did not have the parental or family opportunity or support to go to school, noting that some, if not many of them blew and continue to blow their favors and opportunity to develop themselves.
He stated that he and other successful people in society today had even far more difficult times from childhood and their youthful days compared to some of the disadvantaged youths or zogos today but it took obedience, determination and patience to turn their stories around.
Meanwhile, barely a day after the remarkable feat of little G. Alphonso Gaye, Jr., Liberians from all walks of life have begun calling on President George Manneh Weah, Ministry of Education and other private educational foundations and institutions to reach out to the young man whom they describe as a genius and an academic magician, to place him on the nation’s highest academic pedestal in furtherance of President Weah’s vision to always spot young talents and develop them for the betterment of the country.
At the same time, several radio and television stations as well as newspapers and magazines have started reaching out to the Gaye family for the young Alphonso Gaye to feature on their radio, television and internet platforms for promotion and motivation for other children.
Light International School System is a dynamic and progressive educational institution that aims to provide the best possible education to the students under its care, set within the perimeters of sound values and a disciplined environment.
The school which is an international academic institution, says its objective is to provide students with the opportunity to serve, to lead, and to fulfill their potential in all spheres so that they can take their place and succeed in the modern world.
Light International is foremost an academic institution that has a proud tradition of good West African Examination Council results. Their academic goals are dominated by the principle of 100% pass rate which is regularly achieved.
Due to the toughness of academic works at the Light International School System, it is said that people who applied to teach at the school over the years have dropped out. “We don’t just take anybody to teach at the Light International”, remarked Benedict S. Nagbe, Sr., Vice Principal for Instruction.
The school has some of its administrators, staff as white color Europeans and Asians among others.