2019 President’s Address – Cornwall College Old Boys Association

It is truly a privilege and a great honor to serve as President of this organization. CCOBAMA, Inc was incorporated April 30, 2018 and has been striving to meet our charter’s mandate. As a result, the leadership team has been working diligently to identify and address challenges and deficiencies at our alma mater.

In the past year we have been able to lend support by:

Supporting the Penn Relay team as they prepare for and travel to Philadelphia
Providing Starting Blocks to the track team
Providing a Trainer’s Table to the Athletic Department
Hosting our Inaugural Fish Fry and Dominoes Tournament, which coincided with the running of the Boys’ and Girls’ Championships (Champs) in Jamaica
Supporting the formation of Cornwall College Foundation.
Assisting the 1985 Year Group in bringing to completion the Internet access project at the school
Collaborating with the former President and current Sports Committee Chair of CCOBANY, Mr. Trevor Tomlinson, MAHS Alumnus Ms. Delise O’Meally, MBA, JD, Executive Director, Institute for Sport and Social Justice and Secretary General of the United States International University Sport Federation, and Ms. Inez Turner, Former Olympian and current Head Track and Field Coach at Fayetteville State University to host an Athletic-Scholarship Seminar. The seminar was open to the student-athletes of Cornwall College, Mt. Alvernia High School and Montego Bay High School and their parents.
Providing Security cages for Wi-Fi access points across the school’s campus.
Leading a multi-chapter coordinated effort to complete Phase I of the AutoCAD Project by furnishing computers, laptop and projector for a dedicated AutoCAD computer laboratory.

Throughout the year members of the organization have also traveled to Jamaica and other islands in the Caribbean on initiatives that are separate from the organization’s initiatives, but are deserving of mention.

Mr. Adrian Kerr and his wife, Debbie traveled to Jamaica and worked diligently to install the servers at the school. He also continues to provide support to the IT Department and is providing training to the staff at the school. His intention is to turn over the reign to a fully functional and competent IT staff at the school.

Mr. Mark Ricketts traveled to Jamaica to mentor recipients of scholarships and to present funds for scholarships donated by the Class of ’85 Year Group.

Mr. Elsunuah Henlon continues his decades of work with the Junior Chamber International (Jay-Cees) in Jamaica and around the Caribbean.

Mr. Lenroy James traveled to Jamaica during Homecoming week and taught English at Cornwall College.

Mr. Michael Williams has provided guidance and support for every initiative and is always just a phone call away.

They should all be applauded for their willingness to give back to our alma mater, our community and country.

As we progress through the remainder of 2019 and towards the start of a new decade. We have undertaken and propose to undertake the following initiatives by:

Leading in the funding and implementation of Phase II of the AutoCAD Project in support of the school’s technology and infrastructure development initiatives
Providing an Electronic Microscope, Laptop and Projector to the Biology Department
Continue to support the Penn Relay Track and Field team as it prepares for and travels to Philadelphia. We have also begun the process in coordination with other chapters to assume a leading role in this venture for the immediate and foreseeable future.
Developing and maintaining a community outreach strategy by partnering with local organizations
Improving the social media outreach and image of the organization.
Working with external groups to enhance the image and widen the scope of our reach
Continue to partner with those mentioned above and to expand the Student-Athletes and Parents Athletic Scholarship Seminar into an islandwide format.

If we consider what we have achieved in our first year as an organization, this list is certainly achievable. With proper planning, coordination and an all-hands-on-deck approach, I am optimistic that they can all be achieved.

I urge our members and associate members to re-commit ourselves to achieving each goal. Volunteer to serve on committees and seek to expand our membership by speaking confidently to those outside our group of the work we have done and the work we are proposing to do.

To our current members, thank you for all you have done and to our future members, welcome on board.

Neville Bell
President