Levi C. Williams School System observes 25th Anniversary

The Administration and students of the Levi C. Williams Senior High School System along Coleman Avenue in Sinkor, Monrovia celebrate 25 years of molding the minds of Liberian youth with quality education. The occasion was characterized by thanksgiving and honoring of students for excellent performance.

Giving a brief history of the institution Friday, June 8, in the newly constructed edifice of the Dominion Christian Fellowship Central Church in Oldest Congo Town, Tubman Boulevard, Student Adolphus Sengbe of the Pre-first class of the Levi C. Williams Learning Resources Center recalls the school was established in 1993 by Mrs. Hester Williams Catakaw, in memory of her late father, Rev. Levi C. Williams from Bunker Hill, Harper City, Maryland County.

According to the 5-year-old pupil, the objectives of the Center were to provide childhood education, produce reading books, and create an environment where children will learn and play.

Little Adolphus narrates that the school opened with a single student, Diaboonlay Clinton, who was three years old, adding that subsequently, it was elevated to an elementary school.

Proprietress Mrs. Hester Williams Catakaw, says during the past 25 years, administrators, teachers, and staff have all played major roles in various capacities in ensuring high academic standards, enforcing moral discipline, and creating a generally conducive working and learning atmosphere on campus.

She reflects on difficulties encountered in the establishment of the school, noting that it was not easy initially; “I can remember; I visited the late Archbishop Michael Francis and informed him about my desire to name the new elementary school in honor of Sister Mary Lauren Browne, a Catholic nun who had my inspiration and mentor”, she says.

Madam Catakaw explains, “With the consent of the [late] Archbishop Michael Francis, the Mary Lauren Browne School of Excellence was established in 2006, to provide quality primary education to children.”

She notes that today, the school has produced some of the most eloquent-speaking and high academic achievers in Liberia from the elementary division.
She extols faculty, administrative staff, parents, and all employees of the school for their wonderful contributions and dedicated services in getting the school to where it is now.

The 25 anniversary festivities brought together officials of government, most whom are parents. Some students received certificates and awards for long stay in the school, while others were honored for excellent academic performance.

“we want to express our sincere thanks and appreciation to you the parents, because without your support, we won’t have reached this far”, Mrs. Catakaw acknowledges, and adds that the vision of her school is to become a world class institution of learning, where students will develop their full potentials, capable of taking care of themselves and to make valuable contributions to the Liberian society, and the world at large.

By Lewis S. Teh-Editing by Jonathan Browne