Seminary and Succeed In School Programs Launched at Amos Warner High School in Liberia

In an effort to instil good morals, spiritual discipline, and academic excellence among Liberian youth, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through the Church Educational System (CES), on September 24, 2024 launched the Seminary and Succeed In School (SIS) programs in the Amos Warner High School in Congo Town, Liberia. These are the second of such programs to launch in public schools in Liberia.

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Succeed In School is an after-school program offering classes to youth ages 11 to 18 who may need additional help with their studies. It supports them in completing their secondary education and furthering their developmental opportunities of pursuing a university education or vocational training. The launch ceremony at the Amos Warner High School took place in the school's auditorium with more than one hundred students, faculty, and administrative staff, including National CES representatives, in attendance.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Joyce A. Bryant, CES Coordinator for Liberia, told students that through His Church, the Savior has provided them with the Seminary and SIS programs to help them become spiritually and temporally successful. Quoting John 17:3 and D&C 100:13, she testified, "These programs are designed to help us come closer to the Savior Jesus Christ and to prepare for His second coming. When we are educated, we become both spiritually and temporally self-reliant.”  She added that President Nelson has instructed members of the Church to seek education as it is a commandment.

Brother N. Melvin Quoibiedah, another CES Coordinator, also spoke to the students. Quoting Mathew 6:33, he told the students that the development and betterment of the country rested solely upon them, and if Liberia should be a better place, they needed to be educated and to be a people who can read with comprehension, write well, and do basic mathematics. He explained, "Succeed In School is your companion to become successful.  All that is required from you is to provide your time."  He concluded by saying, “So my friends, we are here to launch Seminary and Succeed In School, and it is our hope that you will embrace these programs to help you every day prepare to learn.”

Speaking on behalf of the school's administration, Bishop Amos T. Warner, who is the school's principal, proprietor, and bishop of the Congo Town 1st Ward, thanked the Church for providing his students, and Liberians as a whole, with such a platform. It enables them to learn and improve both in their temporal and spiritual lives. He counselled his students to embrace the opportunity, saying that success in school can lead to good jobs because education illuminates the mind, and “when you have a light, you can find your own way.”  He emphasized, "It is not a question about what education can do for me, but what I can do with education."

Illustrating his point, Bishop Warner told his students that the Church has not come to give them fish, but to teach them how to fish: "When someone gives you fish, that fish can last with you for a while, but when you are able to fish for yourself, you will have fishes for the rest of your life.”

Succeed In School started in Liberia as a pilot program in the Paynesville and Caldwell Stakes, and over the last two years has expanded into the district, as well as into the remaining stakes and branches of the country. Now, programs are being launched in secondary schools outside of the Church's premises, demonstrating that these programs are gaining momentum with both student members and non-student members who are taking advantage of them.