Dateline 2012, after being
saved from an early grave following a major surgery that almost claimed the life
of the Proprietress, Ambassador Adekunbi Akin-Taylor recalls how God presented
her a vision, while on a wheelchair with several soul-searching questions.
“What if you didn't survive? What legacy would you have left behind? Have you
done all that you were created to do? These questions she says started
agitating her mind. Thereafter, she was convinced she wasn’t doing her best yet
for the Lord, despite her evangelistic efforts of travelling all over the world
to preach God’s word.
Today, a decade of Charlie
Marie can best be summarized as ten years of building a brighter future and
still going strong. Ten years of shining light and brightening all dark corners
around the host community of Labori Oloja. Ten years of imparting the lives of
our young ones, teaching them sound discipline, and ensuring that they too
impart the lives of others. Charlie Marie has become a beacon of hope which
will not be dashed.
The establishment of the school
was a path of destiny and fate which was another avenue for the extension of
her philanthropy through education as a divine God-given mission. In a twist of
fate, her Evangelistic callings was now to reshape destinies by building a
brighter future for children thereby leaving a good legacy behind.
In 2012, Evangelist Adekunbi
Akin-Taylor went ahead to build a school as against a mini housing estate.
Though it was not an easy decision especially as she knew nothing about the
locality. Fast forward, January 2014, after a lot of hassles, Charlie Marie
opened her doors to the first school intakes with six children and six staff
members.
It was a tough and rough ride
from the onset. She was committed to setting standards and wanted to be
different, her objective was to be an agent of change and the ultimate desire
was for the children to be world class pupils and students.
Two years down the line, by
2016, Charlie Marie had grown bigger as an enviable academic citadel of
excellence with infrastructure near completion. The school had become a
household name in the neighbourhood. In that short while, the fast pace of the
school had secured for her government approval for the nursery and primary
school to the glory of God. Charlie Marie continued to maintain a good
standard, and started venturing out. The greatest joy was seeing the children
grow and improve rapidly. In her words, “we were indeed raising the bar and
maintaining our standards and came first in the very first external competition
we were invited to”. She said in excitement.
Although Charlie Marie is a
beautiful and safe school with good infrastructure, the Proprietress says there
was a unique challenge, as they were not charging high fees. “What should have
worked for us was being used against us. Mischief makers kept telling false
narratives about us, dissuading parents from bringing their wards to us, saying
we were very expensive. Charlie Marie family kept overcoming challenges and
moving forward ever but backwards never” the passionate educationist stated.
She added that the children were doing very well within and outside the
locality to the amazement of many.
Following the successes
achieved by the primary school, there was growing demand for a secondary arm
which led to the commencement of Charlie Marie College in September 2018. In no
time, despite the very tough process of getting approval and keeping to the
requirements for the Secondary School, the approval was not far-fetched.
Thereafter, the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) soon gave its own
approval.
In 2021, Charlie Marie added
the Vocational section to her group of schools. This comprises of Tailoring and
Fashion Design, Information Technology, Electrical Installations and Home
Economics sections.
As part of activities to
commemorate the ten years anniversary of Charlie Marie, a week long line up of programmes
were put in place by the school’s management. The schedule of events included
Talent Hunt which was geared towards identifying natural potentials of pupils
and students with the prospect of mentoring them in special areas such as
music, instrumentations, art work such as drawings and painting, craft and much
more. The participants were full of excitement as they demonstrated high sense
of creativity amongst themselves. Winners emerged in different categories of
activities and the school is looking forward to working with select individuals
and organizations as a way of providing guidance to the children in those
specific areas of their talents.
The second day of the outlined
activities to celebrate the decade milestone of Charlie Marie featured keenly
contested debate with very engaging topics of contemporary and national issues.
The speakers did not fail to impress the audience who were left in awe with the
outstanding demonstration of eloquence, confidence and charisma. The Debating
Day was indeed one of fun that will remain in the memory of the children, staff
and parents as gifts and prizes were presented to the winners in different
categories.
The Anniversary Games were also
part of the special activities put in place to celebrate the decade long
establishment of Charlie Marie Group of Schools. It was a mini Olympics of some
sort from the lighting of the Touch of Unity, as the Charlie Marie Academy
athletes lit up the tracks and field at the ultra-modern six thousand capacity
arena in a very colorful opening ceremony of the games with pump and
pageantries. The games were without doubt of top class performances, a display
of athleticism, mental toughness and discipline. The keenly contested 4 X 100
metres relay race was the highpoint of the day which left many impressed that
the feature of sports was certainly a brighter one if the Charlie Marie
tradition of catch them young and grassroots development is sustained.
There were also novelty
basketball and table tennis games. Other side attractions included doughnut and
noodles eating, music, dance and much more. Some neighboring schools and the
children within the community were invited to unwind and be part of the
commemoration of the decade long institution and fun.
The final day of activities marking
the 10th Anniversary of Charlie Marie Group of Schools was indeed one to
remember and cherish for long. The
school celebrated the anniversary in grand style. The 10th graduation ceremony and End of Year Prize-Giving party were
celebrated colourfully with four sets of graduands to different levels of
education, namely from Pre-school to
Nursery, Nursery to Primary, Primary to Junior Secondary and Junior Secondary
to Senior Secondary schools. Staff who had put in up to five years and above of
service were specially honoured by the school Proprietress Evangelist
Ambassador Adekunbi Akin-Taylor. They received award plaques, cash and other
material gifts. A special bumper edition of the school magazine Charlie Marie
World was launched. All serving staff of the school were also given special
gifts as well as the founding and some dedicated parents.
There is no gainsaying that the
school has come a long way from 2014 to 2024. It has been a long hard journey
but very rewarding for the consistency and focus. The school has lived up to
her Charlie Marie vision and mission to raise champions from the grass root and
catching them young.
Expressing her gratitude,
Ambassador Evangelist Adekunbi Akin-Taylor remains grateful to everyone who has
been part of the Charlie-Marie success story. “My special appreciation to God
for His grace, our dedicated, diligent and persevering management and staff,
who daily sacrifice to support the Charlie Marie vision and mission. They have
helped to provide quality education to our children, giving them a voice, a
chance and a future”. She noted.
As Charlie-Marie celebrates
this milestone, the Proprietor is optimistic of what the future holds, “It is a
special time for us to retrospect, as we honour the past and cherish the
present, in full confidence that God will shape our future. We shall, together
and with combined synergy, continue to build a brighter tomorrow for all our
children, their families, our community and the nation at large”. She enthused.
No comments:
Post a Comment