Three in a row for GHS Young Leaders

They have done it again! The Girls’ High School (GHS) has copped the RBBT Young Leaders Program title for the third time in succession. The girls repeated a feat last Wednesday afternoon that only the Emmanuel High School, now called the J.P. Memorial School, did in the first three years of the competition.

Deafening shouts filled the Peace Memorial Hall when the GHS was announced as the best Young Leaders of 2005-2006, receiving the Award of Distinction.{{more}}

The Bethel High School was presented with the Award of Excellence for placing second and the St. Vincent Grammar School had to settle for the third position. They were presented with the Award of Merit.

Past Parliamentarian and businessman, John Horne was on hand at the award ceremony to deliver the feature address. Horne said that young people should view themselves as pillars of society and each child must nurture ambition. He said that the theme of this year’s programme was fitting due to the fact

that the words spoke for themselves. “Without cherishing life you are most likely to disregard family and most likely disrespect one another,” said Horne.

The former minister of education said that the best quality is derived from within a person, “You got to have something between your ears if you want to make a mark on society.” He even went on to outline some of the benefits of the program, such as increased confidence, cooperation, leadership, understanding and experience.

Horne stressed that self-confidence is very significant to ones development, “The more confidence you have in yourself, the more tolerant you become,” stated Horne. He urged each student in the audience to beware of becoming over confident, “as it may lead to detestable self righteousness. The more confident you are, the less likely it is that you will respond in any violent way to negative remarks made by school mates or others,” Horne said.

A stern warning was given to the students especially the boys. Horne said that in times of hardship and unemployment that they should be aware of the unsettling effect of prolonged “liming” and that discipline must be instilled within them to prepare for the future.

He urged the students to pray meaningfully and join an organisation to make good use of their time.

A student of the winning Young Leaders’ group, Afeisha Daniel, said that she had a feeling that

her school was going to win: “I feel so great being part of all this, I felt we represented ourselves very well.” Daniel said that the experience gained from the Young Leaders Program is one that will be used for a lifetime.

The ceremony was capped off with Darriel Ambrose and Tisa Providence rendering a musical selection: “Get Up.” A total of 18 schools participated in the RBTT Young Leaders’ Project; 14 contested the debates. The Girls’ High School also received $5,000, Bethel received $3,000 and the Boys’ Grammar School received $2,000. Certificates of achievement were presented to the other schools.