Write-Up by Damian Avevor
The Old Boys of Opoku Ware School (Akatakyie) in Kumasi,are poised for a homecoming event to their Alma Mater with a series of activities including Speech and Prize Giving Day on Saturday, May 7, 2016.
Other activities arecounseling for the students,a football match between Akatakyie and Teaching Staff, and a Thanksgiving Mass to climax the homecoming on Sunday, May 8.
The homecoming would be led by the AN/AS300+ group which completed Form Five twenty-five years ago, and those that joined in Sixth Form later that year.
Opoku Ware School has a unique numbering system that dates back to its inception in 1952. A few years ago, the Old Boys Association decided that Year Groups celebrating twenty-five years of leaving the School in any given year would lead the Association’s homecoming weekend.
But beyond the fun and meeting up with old mates to reminisce about the good old days, they old boys are taking things to another level.
In line with the Association’s decision that each homecoming must be commemorated with a gift to the School by the Silver Jubilee Group, the AN/AS300+ Group has been busy preparing its gift; a refurbished Dining Hall.
They are inspired by the standard set by their immediate seniors, the AM/AR300+ Group, which refurbished the Staff Common Room in 2015 as their Silver Jubilee Project.
The Dining Hall, opened in 1976, has not seen any refurbishment in the forty years of its existence, and the Silver Jubilee Group is sparing no expense at sprucing it up.
The Tutors’ Dining area is being re-tiled, air conditioners and flat screen televisions will be installed, with a new ceiling and spot lights.
Glass louvres are being installed all around the dining hall to replace the wooden shutters. The interior and exterior of the building is being painted, and new ceiling fans are to be installed in the 3,000-seater facility.
All the 200 dining tables are being replaced with Decosam water-resistant tops, with enhanced facilities for the Prefects eating area.
A new Public Address system would also be provided to enhance announcements.
The Project is expected to cost about of GH¢120,000 and it is expected that the Guest of Honour, Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua, the Kumawuhene, who is an Old Boywould unveil the plaque to commemorate the commissioning.
Next year, the AO/AT300+ Group will lead the homecoming, which will also mark the School’s 65th Anniversary. They are already busily working on their project-a Science and Maths laboratory. They are determined to raise the bar even higher.
And OWASS can only soar even higher with the generosity of her Old Boys.
