Good deeds can pay off.
On Monday, 16-year-old Signal Hill Secondary School student Anthonio Hackett and 14-year-old Jayvorn Horsford of Bishop’s High School were honoured with the Father of the Nation Medal of Honour Bronze by the Dr Eric Williams Memorial Committee chairman at their respective schools.
[caption id="attachment_985649" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Signal Hill Secondary student Anthonio Hacket is kissed by his mother, Cindy Ann Waldron, after receiving the Father of the Nation Medal of Honor Bronze from Reginald Vidale, chairman of the Dr Eric Williams memorial committee, for finding a wallet containing $5,000 and returning it to its owner. The award ceremony took place at Signal Hill Secondary School on Monday. Photo by David Reid[/caption]
The two have been hailed as heroes after finding a purse containing $5,000 on the road through the Pigeon Point Heritage Park on October 29 and returning it to its owner. The owner of the purse, from Cocorite, Trinidad, was vacationing in Tobago when the purse was lost.
Both boys are from Store Bay Local Road in Bon Accord.
Hackett, a fourth-form student, said he and Horsford were riding their bicycles through the park when they discovered the purse.
[caption id="attachment_985645" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Chairman of the Dr Eric Williams Memorial Committee Reginald Vidale, left, presents Bishop's High student Jayvorn Horsford with the Father of the Nation Medal of Honour Bronze, for finding a wallet which contained $5,000 and returning it to its owner, at a ceremony at Bishop's High School on Monday. Photo by David Reid[/caption]
Speaking with Newsday after the presentation, he said he was happy he did the right thing.
“I feel great, I feel amazing for the good deed I would have done over the carnival.
“Honesty is the best policy, and that is the quote that I live by every day.”
To others in a similar position, he said, “Return it. Don’t matter what you find, just return it, because it would pay off.”
His mother, CindyAnn Waldron, was brought to tears.
“I feel so happy. I am proud of my son. The training that he got, he exceeded, and I am very, very happy of him. We are all very proud of him.”
She said parents must play a major part in bringing up their children.
“As parents, we brought him up teaching him not to touch anything for anybody, don’t take what is not his. It pays off now to see that he is doing exactly what he was taught.”
The school’s vice principal, Xavier King, said honesty is part of the skills taught at the school, as shown by Hackett.
“We teach them a lot of life skills, discipline as well. We teach them to be loving, kind and also about honesty. Therefore, we are indeed happy, because it means that our efforts at teaching did not go in vain. So I really want to congratulate that young man and hope that others would follow. I really congratulate him, and I hope that he continues, and others would follow to do good deeds as his life progresses.”
He had some advice for the other students.
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