-Milton Peters College Students Overall Competition Winner
Four talented students walked away with their very own Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 as a prize and the opportunity to execute their project proposal after winning the first Youth Desk Competition which was held last Friday by the Department of Youth Affairs.
The group consisting of Milton Peters College students Makeel Violenus, Kristen Rojo, Roodjennie Hippolyte and Sandra Cetoute presented their proposal on the theme of Child Abuse under the title “It shouldn’t hurt to be a Child”. The presentation, which started out with a moving poem on the topic of Child Abuse highlighted the problem on the island and gave a detailed plan on how they thought the victims can get helped.
The other four qualifying proposals being judged that day were presentations from Mhakeda Shillingford, of the Foundation for Academic and Vocational Education (FAVE) who presented her proposal on “Student Insight Inventory”, Sidkenie Toulon of the Charlotte Brookson Academy of the Performing Arts on teenage pregnancy entitled “Live Life before You Give Life”, Marie Fidel-Balthazar and Ma-Lysha Cannegieter on “ Youth Involvement in the Community” and “Teen Depression” presented by students Leatton Douglas, Shakainah Pompier, Chianti Charles and Shavelle Lourence of the Charlotte Brookson Academy for the Performing Arts.
The students bravely made their presentations before the Honorable Minister of Education, Culture Youth and Sports, Mrs Rita Bourne – Gumbs, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, department Head and other officials of Youth Affairs, and a panel of judges comprising of industry heavyweights Mr. Antonio Aventurin of the Department of Study Financing, Mr. Edsel Hooker of the St. Maarten Sports Federation and Journalist, Mr. Glen Yeung , a Certified Hospitality Trainer, Mr. Marcel Javois , Manager of Simpson Bay Resorts and Marina and Mr. Whitfield Vlaun, Branch Manager of First Caribbean Bank. The judges and the Honorable Minister provided feedback and posed critical questions with regards to their proposals.
Amongst the audience supporting the students were parents, teachers and members of the Youth Parliament of St. Maarten.
The Youth Desk is a project that was officially launched on January 19th of this year by the Department of Youth Affairs. The idea for the project originated as a follow up from the 2013 Youth Round Table Conference.
By means of this competition, the department successfully engaged the participation of the youth by involving them in the planning of certain activities of their interests. Moreover, the members of the panel of judges gracefully accepted their appointments and showed much enthusiasm for project. Department officials stated that they anticipate having much more activities for the youth in the near future and looking forward to more collaboration with the private sector in executing projects. “ This is only the beginning of what is to come as we aim to Inspire, Educate and Empower”- stated Ms. Nicole Maccow who is a policy worker and coordinator for this project.
The Department of Youth still encourages all youth between the ages of 12 and 24 years old to visit the St. Maarten Youth Desk on Backstreet # 34, across from Penny’s Department Store. Opening hours are Mondays , Tuesday and Fridays from 1.00 P.M. to 5.00 P.M.
For more information, they can contact the Department of Youth Affairs on 54-22056 or send an email to youthafairs@sintmaartengov.org . They can also find the Department of Youth Affairs on Facebook: St. Maarten Youth Affairs.
