SJCK grabs 2012 RBC Young Leaders Award of Distinction

The St Joseph’s Convent Kingstown (SJCK) is the recipient of the 2012 RBC Young Leaders Award of Distinction.{{more}}

“I am very happy and we worked very hard for this; this is our reward and good work brings success and we did extremely well and we are thrilled that we won,” Crystal Webb, President of the group told SEARCHLIGHT.

The girls from SJCK beat out the Adelphi Secondary School, who in their third appearance in the competition, did one better than last year’s finish, to walk away with the Award of Excellence.

“This year, we placed second and it is an extraordinary feeling,” Dermaine Owens, Coordinating Teacher of the Adelphi Secondary School said.

“We worked very hard for about 14 weeks…hard work going out into the community,” he continued, adding that the group wanted to embark on an activity that would be sustainable and last, not only for the duration of the project, but to benefit the community long after.

The St Joseph’s Convent Marriaqua won the Award of Merit and rounding up the top four awardees was the Girls’ High School who captured the Judges’ Award.

Michele De Freitas of SJCK got the Most Outstanding Young Leader award.

“It was quite surprising, because I was selected from my team, but I had no idea because of all the entries; we didn’t know,” De Freitas explained.

Ten schools of the initial thirteen submitted projects for final judging under the theme ‘Climate Change; Global Phenomenon, Community Solutions’.

In his featured presentation, Akin John, Barrister-at-law encouraged the participants in this year’s program to appreciate the experiences gained from being a part of such a project.

“Students, you must appreciate that your involvement in the Young Leaders program should merely be the impetus for a continuing drive to become involved in causes or institutions with a social conscience,” John said.

He further explained that involvement in projects such as this helps students to find ways of distinguishing themselves from other students when applying to tertiary level institutions.

“By simple participation, a youngster automatically increases his or her appeal to an institution of higher learning that receives hundreds and hundreds of applications for entry from outstanding academic persons.”

According to John, he was drawn to the program for a number of reasons, including the fact that students get to hone their entrepreneurial skills.

“By developing project ideas, seeking funding and effectively marketing that idea, your level of social awareness is heightened,” John contended.

Furthermore, the requirement of having to work together as a unit, while often a challenge, John said was an essential skill, necessary for proper institutional and capacity building.

But as the 2012 Young Leaders program came to a close, the 2013 theme was revealed: ‘Be the Change’.(DD)