Background:
In 1989, the then Area Representative, Honourable Charles Wagner, and a core of educators and concerned citizens from Independence and other surrounding villages such as Placencia, Seine Bight and Monkey River, saw the need for an institution of higher learning for the many youths who would leave primary school without the possibility of furthering their education. This need created an impetus to fill that void and so a Board of Governors was formed and chaired by Mr. Charles Longsworth, the then Principal of St. Pius X RC School.
The need for an emblem that would represent the core ideology of the institution was later requested from the student body during the year leading up to the first graduation. Consequently, the Board received submissions from Mrs. Elizabeth Zabaneh, Anton Leslie and…third student. Anton Leslie’s emblem was chosen by the Board.
Significance:
Within the “Green Shield” is stated the year the school was established. Above the year, there is an “Open Book” and a “Torch”, both of which are in yellow. The significance of these is that the “Torch” lights the “Book of Knowledge” thereby kindling our consciousness to a new awakening. The “Green Shield”, which has the “Torch” and the “Open Book” engraved on it, propagates fertility and therefore, guards the young and naïve from being deprive of achieving knowledge and of expressing their full potential.
The “Green Shield” is placed within a “Yellow Circle.” The “Yellow” is an indication of the young having achieved maturity and sophistication. This circle contains what two letters of the acronym in “I.H.S.” represents. “I” stands for “Industry” or hard work given by all parties to grow the institution and its programs. And the last letter “S” represents “Success” or a triumph, a realization from all our untiring efforts. Now an artistic twist is the middle letter “H” which is placed in the “White Circle”. This letter represents “Honour”, a tribute of respect and admiration resulting from our hard work. Of course, “Success” can be achieved through “hard work” without any measure of “Honour” but the artist behooves us to reason that our labour and success should contain elements of consecration and gratitude. In the final analysis, our successes at day’s end, compliment the tripartite self: mind, body and soul.
Encompassing the “Yellow Circle” is a “White Circle” that is further ensuring the protection of the innocents and also nurturing the continuity of the fire from the “Torch” which triggers the temptation to examine the “Book of Knowledge.” Also, within the “White Circle” is the name of the school being so named after the village where the school is located. In addition, there is the “School Motto” noting the philosophical enterprise of the institution which is the expectation for students “To Prepare For Life.”
The sustenance for our school comes from the “Solid Brown Colour” that encircles and contains the integrity of the emblem. It represents that enduring support from our local businesses, parents, past alumni, and the various industries that till the rich, brown, agricultural soil that fuels the economic machinery in our locality. With these respective parties support, our school has surpassed the unimaginable in a short time, both in construction growth and programs development.