Student Support Services exhibition tomorrow

There is no shortage of talent in St Vincent and the Grenadines. This fact will be showcased tomorrow by the Student Support Services, at an exhibition held at their headquarters in Frenches from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.{{more}}

The Student Support Services of the Ministry of Education caters to students who are not performing as well as they should be in the mainstream secondary schools, whether it be because of academic or behavioural challenges.

Creative arts and social studies teacher Krystal Robertson noted that the exhibition will offer for sale a wide variety of items which were neatly crafted by the students.

“It’s featuring the students’ work that they would have done throughout the year in creative arts, visual arts and the agricultural programme,” she said.

“That would include jewelry, banana art, agricultural produce, ceramic work…and tie dyeing”.

Proceeds from the exhibition will go towards further development of programmes and to the students themselves, but also to kidney patient Kriston Lewis.

17-year-old Lewis, who is a live-in student at Liberty Lodge Boys’ Training Centre, was, until recently, a part of the Student Support Services. However, an infection caused his kidney to fail, and has left him in need of a transplant.

Although he is not showcasing at the exhibition, Robertson described Lewis as a quiet individual with great artistic ability and potential.

“He is actually one of our stronger art students,” she revealed.

“He would have been moving into some secondary institution…this year, had he been well”.

The teacher is encouraging the public to support the students in their venture.

“It’s an open exhibition and we’re inviting the public to come and support the children, because it’s very important for children such as these to be aware that the skills that they learn now can actually resulting in creating jobs for them,” Robertson said.

The exhibition will also feature a collection of artwork from the visual arts teacher Kenville Huggins and agricultural produce from the agricultural program instructor Kaskie Miguel.

In addition to the exhibition, a youth conference is being held today at the Curriculum Development Unit for students who are either leaving the programme to join mainstream secondary schools or moving into employment.

The conference, themed “Preparing for the Road Ahead”, will focus on self-esteem and anger management. Facilitators include Alisa Alvis, Simone Bullock and Peter Pompey, with featured speaker Stanley Browne.

Student Support Services was established in 2009 and is located adjacent to Frenches House.(BK)