Wesley Girls High School turns to God to mark 180th milestone
Nostalgia filled the auditorium of the Calvary Methodist Church in Accra last Sunday when hundreds of old girls and students of the Wesley Girls Senior High School turned up for a thanksgiving service to mark the 180th anniversary of the school and a day dedicated to its founder.
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Hugs, smiles, a catch up on old times and dance in praises to God took the better part of the event which brought together old students from as far back as the 1948 year group and current students.
Fun galore
It was also a day of sober reflection and jamboree for the old girls who attended the programme, which was on the theme: “Great is Your Faithfulness, O Lord our God.”
Prominent products of the school, including the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood; a former Registrar of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Dr Sylvia Boye; the first female Pro-Vice-Chancellor (University of Ghana) Professor Florence Abena Dolphyne, the running mate of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Ms Brigitte Dzogbenuku; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Stratcomm —Africa,Ms Esther Cobbah, and the second Ghanaian Headmistress of the school, Mrs Nancy Thompson, graced the occasion.
Clad in their green and yellow school cloth and energised by the joy that filled the hall, age was not a restraint.
The auditorium went agog with wild jubilation as the roll call of year groups in order of decades went by but the cheers was the loudest for the 1948-1960 group, most of whom have been tamed by age but energised by enthusiasm.
Bless others
With the school’s mass choir and brass band at their melodious best, a Pastor of the Legon Interdenominational Church, Rev. Mrs Agnes Philips, took to the pulpit to deliver what could best be described as ‘a soul-searching sermon’.
An old girl of Wey Gey Hey herself, the soft-spoken minister of the gospel urged the congregation to show their gratitude to God through kindness to the less privileged.
“The thanksgiving and the praise we give to God should not end on our lips. As we bath in the abundance of His grace and the riches of His glory, we should enable others also to give thanks to God by sowing seeds of gratitude in their lives,” she said to the nodding of heads in agreement.
According to her, God did not bless people to make them self-centred but rather for them to be a blessing to others.
“Those who love God translate that love to their neighbours, “ she said, adding that neighbourly love was what Christians did for others wholeheartedly.
“Christ’s definition of a neighbour was beyond locality, nationality, religion and beyond race. Your neighbour is someone who needs help because you share a common humanity.
“The blessing God has given us is not for ourselves and our families alone. We are to take care of the needy; we are to make sure that we become blessings to others. We are to be the lips of encouragement to the downhearted,” Rev. Philips explained.
Eternal gratitude
The Headmistress of the school, Mrs Betty Djokoto, paid glowing tribute to the school’s forbears and stakeholders who sustained the vision of the girls’ school planted by the wife of the second Methodist Missionary to the Gold Coast, Mrs Harriet Wrigley, in 1836.
An old girl herself, she said given how visions withered with time, it was appropriate that both current and old students showed gratitude to God eternally for sustaining the school.
She was also full of praise for the students who had over the years dominated both the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and co-curriculum activities.
With the speeches and preaching out of the way, food, music and drinks ebbed and flowed at the reception to crown the day’s event.
Other activities
To officially begin the 180th anniversary of the school, Wesley Girls’ High School held a mini-homecoming for the old girls from June 30, 2016 to July 3, 2016.
Other activities planned for the anniversary are November 7,2016, School Harvest; November 10-12, 2016, Sports; November 11, 2016, Carols Service and February 13, 2017, Speech and Prize-giving Day.
