2026 Graduates’ Evening: nearly 230 graduates honoured
On Friday 17 July at the Marigot Sports Hall, the Collectivité organised its traditional graduates’ evening. The ceremony was held to celebrate the territory’s young graduates.
From A-levels to PhDs, nearly 230 young people from Saint Martin were honoured on Friday evening. Dressed in evening wear, with sashes around their necks and wearing the traditional square graduation hats, as is the custom every year during the third week of July, the island’s graduates were honoured. Having registered between 3 and 13 July, either on their own initiative or that of their families, they were invited to take to the stage by course and year group to receive their trophies.
“It’s an experience I wanted to have. We’ll never be in our final year of secondary school again, and it was important for me to come along this evening,” says Jah’one Richardson, who holds a vocational baccalaureate in marine maintenance, achieved with the distinction ‘very good’. It was an evening that her classmate Omaly Williams also wanted to be part of. “It was also an important moment for my mum. I passed my baccalaureate with ‘very good’ honours. She’s very proud,” said the young graduate. For the graduates, this ceremony marks the end of a chapter. “I’ve worked hard over the past three years. I deserve this and I’m proud of myself,” exclaimed Yarissa Garcia, who holds a vocational baccalaureate in personal care and support services.
The Local Authority: master of ceremonies
Organised by the Territorial Collectivity, the evening took place from 6 pm to 10 pm, attended by Prefect Cyrille Le Vély, MP Frantz Gumbs, Vice-Rector Nicole Noilhetas and several elected members of the Territorial Council, who presented the awards to the graduates. Thirteen members of the Territorial Youth Council helped to welcome guests and organise the evening. Their president, Jahid Hamlet, accompanied by the first vice-president, acted as master of ceremonies. According to Raïssa Lake, Head of the Youth Department, “This ceremony builds on the congratulations already extended to the graduates by their educational institutions and allows the Collectivité, in turn, to recognise the hard work and achievements of the territory’s young people.”
