by Jamaica Observer

May 21, 2024

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Hundreds of students, staff and alumni of the Wolmer’s Trust Group of Schools turned out Tuesday to celebrate the 295th anniversary of the institution, the oldest school in the Caribbean.

Wearing maroon and gold, the proud members of the school community – which includes the all-boys and all-girls’ high schools as well as the prep school – marched through the streets of Kingston in celebration of the occasion.

Rohan Powell, communications specialist at the Ministry of Justice, was among the many past students who participated in the festivities, which began with a thanksgiving service at 8am. He beamed with pride as he expressed what the school meant to him.

“I am very proud to be a Wolmerian. I am so happy that I entered this school gate in 1983. It was five years, some good years, some challenging, but I stood my ground, learnt a lot and it has helped me in my adult life. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“Two hundred and ninety-five years is a remarkable achievement and for us to be still around, still celebrating, is a joy,” Powell told Observer Online.

The Wolmer’s group of schools was founded on May 21, 1729, the day John Wolmer made his last will and testament, by which he left the bulk of his estate for the foundation of a free school in the parish in which he happened to die. The sum of the legacy was £2,360.

In 2019, in honour of the Wolmer’s Trust of Schools’ 290th anniversary, Governor General Sir Patrick Allen declared May 21 as Wolmer’s Day.

The Observer’s next-day write-up is on this site: Maroon and gold pride.

Source: Jamaica Observer, 21 May 2024. Republished for the Wolmer’s Trust community with attribution.

The Trust keeps the day here: Wolmer’s Day.