HCQCAN makes its first donation since initiating its improvement campaign for the two schools in October 2021. The donation, made on August 23, 2022, was in the amount of the equivalent of $12,000 Barbados and it goes towards equipping the almost complete pavilion. Thanks is expressed to all who have donated so far, and we encourage alumni and friends to keep giving.

The QC Pavilion
The construction of the sports Pavilion at QC, a project of Give Back QC Charity (GBQCCHARITY), and the recent contribution by the HCQC Alumni Network (HCQCAN) to the final steps in making the Pavilion a reality, is embedded in the history of Queen’s College and its collaboration with Harrison College.

Background to Queen’s College and it’s collaboration with Harrison College

Queen’s College, established as a secondary school for girls in 1883, was previously located in Constitution Road, St. Michael, a stone’s throw from Harrison’s College，an all-boys secondary school founded in 1733.

Queen’s College students who majored in science at the “A” level took classes at Harrison College for many years. Queen’s College capacity to offer science at the A level was strengthened and the tradition of QC girls attending HC for Science at “A” level ended around 1980, coinciding with the advent of QC becoming co-Ed with its first intake of boys in first form. This was due to a 1976 Ministry of Education decision to make all secondary schools co-Ed.  The two schools have nevertheless maintained their long history of collaboration as the schools are reputed to be the top secondary schools in the island in terms of academic performance. A healthy tradition of competition exists between them.

Queen’s College relocation and the Pavilion
Queen’s College relocated from Constitution Road to its present site in Husbands, St. James, in 1990. The school is situated on 21 acres of land. Since 1990, the construction of a pavilion has been on the plan of the school and Ministry of Education, a plan never realized until now, although there were a few false starts. Ten years ago in 2012, three enterprising alumnae of Queen’s College, Anne Gittens, Anne St. John and Anne Simpson came together and formed a Trust under the patronage of Dame Billie Miller, an alumna herself and a former Minister of Education, for the purpose of building a state of the art sports pavilion at Queen’s College.

The Pavilion has been a priority project for Queen’s College for the past decade. The construction was cost shared by the Ministry of Education and the bulk of the funds were raised by the Trust, a great example of public/ private partnership.

The Herculean decade long task of fundraising for and overseeing of construction of the Barbados dollar 1.4 million structure, was led by Anne St. John on behalf of the Trust. The bringing of the pavilion to fruition is an outstanding case study in a combination of vision and perseverance, characterized by sustained action. The pavilion is intended to serve not only QC students but 4 elementary schools in the vicinity. It will also serve primary school sporting events organized by local organizations.

The Pavilion will not only contribute to Barbados’s effort to promote healthy living but to overall physical fitness.  Physical fitness is a very important element of education development and has several benefits beyond health and fitness. It also contributes to social and emotional development, leadership skills patience and perseverance, discipline, mental growth, boosting confidence and self-esteem, teamwork, and cooperation as well as efficient time management, all of which contribute to academic excellence.

Improvement Campaign of HCQC Alumni Network and pavilion completion contribution
It is not surprising that the Principal of Queen’s College included completion of the Pavilion as one of the priorities to be funded under the Improvement Campaign launched by the HCQC Alumni Network (HCQCAN) during its Grand Reunion held in October 2021. The Improvement Campaign which aims to raise Barbados $2million is intended to fund priority STEAM infrastructure projects at the two schools as follows:

QC:
Completion of the Sports Pavilion and the related perimeter fencing
Upgrading the science labs
Upgrading the Hall to enhance the Performing Arts program

HC:
Building a Robotics and a Food Science Lab on top of the existing Chemistry lab
Equipping the labs

The HCQC Alumni Network (HCQCAN)
The HCQC Alumni Network consists of 4 HC and QC Alumni Association Chapters in the USA, Canada, and Barbados, HCQCAA, USA and HCQCAA, Toronto, OHS (Old Harrisonian Society, Barbados) and QCA (Queen’s College, Barbados) and GBQC Charity (Give Back QC Charity) whose trustees are members of QCA. They came together at the initiative of HCQCAA, USA led by Mary Symmonds in her capacity as President of HCQCAA, USA in 2019 following a collaboration partnership she initiated between HCQCAA, USA and the Barbados Associations in 2018. Their aim was to create the first ever joint grand reunion of the alumni of the two schools, which was also intended to recognize outstanding alumni and serve as a fundraiser for both schools.
The Steering Committee of the Network comprises the 4 association chapters as well as the PTAs and Boards and is headed by HCQCAA, USA.

Given the legacy of collaboration between the two schools, the Network is intended to facilitate major initiatives such as fundraising, and undertake activities which lend themselves to joint work specifically:

1. Support major infrastructure projects at the two schools
2. Establishment and maintenance of a joint website that serves as a gateway to individual chapters and alumni
3. Maintenance of joint communication through a virtual newsletter, The College Bell, aimed at generating membership for our chapters as a means of achieving the widest possible alumni participation
4. joint alumni networking
5. joint activities of the alumni associations.
   
   The Network is in the process of registering as a Charity in Barbados.