Barbados Today

Hilda Skeene Primary was graced with the presence of reigning Olympic triple-jump champion Christian Taylor earlier in the week during a five-day visit.

Taylor was born in the United States to a Barbadian mother.

He and his guests were warmly welcomed by principal Ivan Clarke, physical education teachers Janelle Denny and Nikki Daniel, other staff members and the students. He had been asked to speak in his official address on the topic: Self-discipline – How it helps an athlete to succeed in sports & life. Before his speech, the students were shown a short video of Christian in action in his event.

His presentation focused on setting attainable goals, making sacrifices to achieve the goal, believing in one’s abilities and engaging in continuous assessment of one’s performances. The athletes were then given the opportunity to pose questions to the Olympic champion. They ranged from personal questions such as what was his favourite colour and choice of music, his most memorable moment in college to aspects of his training and future goals.Musical presentations of the school song and Girlfriends in Sports Forever (GSF) Anthem were sung for the guests and a set of commemorative glasses and other school paraphernalia were presented to Christian. His mother Stephanie Taylor, a former pupil of the school, was also presented with a gift, as well as a framed copy of the school song. She attended Beulah primary which was first amalgamated with Holy Trinity, and then later Ebenezer. It was her first time visiting the new school since it had been opened.

Christian then presented Clarke and Denny with a poster of himself to be displayed in the school which he autographed after taking pictures with the students. Clarke thanked Christian for coming to the school and his motivational talk to the students and stated he would be welcomed back any time since he was now an official member of the school by descent. He also encouraged the students to seize the opportunity to re-commit themselves to reach their goals and strive for excellence in all their endeavours.