A former beauty queen, Ms. Wendy Brown Derns, has donated exercise books to students of the Osu Salem Primary and Junior High School in Accra.

Making the presentation, Ms. Derns, also a past student of the school, noted that one of the main motivations for the gesture was due to the excellent training the school afforded her during her time there.

“I would like everybody gathered here today to know that I owe what I am today in part to this school, my proud alma mater, for the sound educational and godly foundation they laid for me. I will forever owe them a huge debt of gratitude”, Ms. Dern stated.

The former beauty queen, also a professional teacher, further revealed that the donation was also part of an educational project she conceived many years back.

As part of the project, in-depth research will be undertaken to ascertain the causes of the abysmal academic performance by underprivileged pupils and students in her district, especially in the area of science and maths. Based on the research findings, the necessary steps will then be taken to help address the shortfall.

Ms. Dern attended the Presbyterian Women’s College at Danfa in the Eastern Region, where she took part in the annual beauty pageant for colleges of education in the Eastern and Greater Accra sector (EGA). She emerged second runner-up.

She is currently a teacher at the Danfa Methodist Primary School, Danfa, where she intends to begin the pilot of her educational research.

Ms. Dern appealed to other past students of the school, as well as individuals
and corporate bodies to also lend their support to the school and her project, noting that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.