Emmanuel High’s Head Girl makes history at Science Fair

It was the Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia(EHSM)’s first attempt at the VINLEC National and Technology Fair where Head Girl, Anicia De Roche, copped the awards for Most Outstanding Upper Secondary Project and Most Outstanding Secondary School Project.

On Friday, November 11, 2024 students from across the country converged at the Kingstown Methodist Church Hall where they received medals and were awarded for their outstanding performances in the 2024 VINLEC National and Technology Fair.

FROM LEFT: Kyra Haynes, Zhi-Jason Smith, Donray Greaves and Ajene King of Windsor Primary School with their project, ‘‘Creating plant based battery from renewable resources”

De Roche, who received the award for Most Outstanding Upper Secondary, and Most Outstanding Secondary School Project told SEARCHLIGHT, “it is very truly amazing” to have received these awards for her school, especially since it is the first time the school has participated in the science fair.

De Roche’s project “Rainwater Harvest and Drip Irrigation” was inspired by her family in the Grenadines, especially in Canouan who are “not connected to the main water source”, and aims to use rainwater for more productive purposes.

De Roche believes that “employing rain water harvesting and irrigation into the homes and businesses in our country will lead to a more sustainable and brighter future for SVG”.

She said that juggling her school work and the project was a challenge, and she did not expect to receive these awards “at all.”

De Roche, who has her eyes set to be a doctor, implored other students to “do your best in everything that you do and throughout exposure of school events, try go forward…”.

Fantasia Anthony and Akeelah Alexis also contributed to the school’s success with their project named, Solar Powered Bank, which was designed to demonstrate how solar energy can be harnessed using a model to lower dependence on fossil-fuel powered electricity and to help reduce greenhouse gases.
The duo, who won the award for Upper Secondary Physics Category told SEARCHLIGHT that this achievement is a new feeling, but a nice one.

“We looked into the things that threatened the future of St Vincent. One of the main things that kept coming up was global warning so we decided to look into an alternative…to help decrease the spike of global warming,” Alexis explained, while Anthony added that the science fair was a good experience.

“We are glad that we came and at least got to represent our school…to see that we are the first students to represent, it’s a good feeling,” Anthony continued.

Kuba Francis and Aniya Bowman, students of the Girls’ High School, won the Lower Secondary Chemistry category with their project: ‘The effects of different Solutions pH levels on iron and copper corrosion’.

“We’re every elated because we put in a lot of hard work and effort into it, and we even had to go to the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College to get the pH meter to test the solutions,” Francis told SEARCHLIGHT, adding that they had expected to do an outstanding job and are really happy with their medals.

Zhi-Jason Smith, Donray Greaves, Kyra Haynes and Ajene King of the Windsor Primary School, who participated in the fair with their project, ‘‘Creating plant based battery from renewable resources’ felt “very good- amazing actually” with their notable performance at the science fair.

The four told SEARCHLIGHT they did not believe in themselves and advised future participants to have more confidence in their projects.

The science fair which was held under the theme, “Sustainability – securing a brighter future for SVG” saw the Bequia Community High, Sandy Bay Secondary, and the St Vincent Girls’ High School emerge as the most outstanding secondary schools; while the St Mary’s Roman Catholic, Calliaqua Anglican, and the Lower Bay School Inc. were the most outstanding primary schools in this year’s science fair.