Posters by Yvado Simmonds and Kelsia Liburd represent Nevis in FCCA Competition
NIA-CHARLESTOWN, NEVIS (January 31ST, 2011) — “My environment is in my hands” and “Protect the ozone layer…save lives on earth” are the messages that 12-year-old Mr. Yvado Simmonds and 13-year-old Ms. Kelsia Liburd are sending to Nevisians in 2011.
Mr. Simmonds, who is a student at the Charlestown Secondary School, and Ms. Liburd, who attends the Gingerland Secondary School, are Nevis’ junior and senior category finalists in the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association [FCCA] Foundation Children’s Environmental Poster Contest.
According to Tourism Education Officer at the Nevis Island Administration’s [NIA] Ministry of Tourism, Ms. Vanessa Webbe, the winning posters were chosen locally by three judges: Mr. Cory Tyson, Mrs. Ellen Grant and Ms. Lilleth Richards.
The posters, she added, have been forwarded to the Florida-based FCCA office where they will be analysed among winning posters from across the region before the overall winners are selected.
“We really have to take heed to what the children are saying. They are telling us that they understand what we need to do. They have spoken about the ozone layer and the things we are doing that are causing more carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere,” Ms. Webbe said as she, on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism, lauded the students, teachers and parents for the preparative work that had been done.
Ms. Webbe also recognised Ms. T-Andra Mills and Ms. Stenecia Pitt of the Joycelyn Liburd and Ivor Walters Primary Schools for placing second and third respectively in the local segment of the junior category and Ms. Francia Destouche of the Charlestown Secondary School who placed second in the senior category.
Ms. Liburd’s top junior poster in the 2010 competition set the standard for other submissions from Nevis and Education Officer and local judge Mrs. Grant said she was hopeful that Nevis would be victorious in this year’s competition.
“I think creativity topped the score because the posters were exceptionally creative and the children used their imagination and also their perception of the environment.
“I think it was of a high quality and I am hoping that one of the students either in the junior or senior category would come out the top place winner for Nevis,” she said.
While Mrs. Grant was pleased that the posters in the junior division were “of a very high quality” and the participants in the senior category “displayed a wide range and a kaleidoscope of colours,” Ms. Richards commended the students for their submissions.
“I am always very pleased whenever young people put so much effort into anything and you could see a lot of effort went into these posters this year. I am quite pleased with the winners and for the others that didn’t really make it, it was a very good effort and hopefully they would continue participating,” she said.
Mr. Tyson, who is the Production Manager at the NIA’s Department of Information, was also pleased with the students’ work and said while “the layouts were pretty cool,” the detailed criterion made the judging easy.
“We scored the entrants on a diverse criterion. The segments were creativity, relevance to theme, content and quality of presentation for a total of 50 points.
“We had a total of 12 entrants: 10 juniors and two in the senior category. Judging the posters this year wasn’t as hard as I anticipated. The criterion was`very easy to follow and I didn’t have any issues doing any judging,” he said.
The non-profit FCCA will award cash scholarships of US$3000, US$1500 and US$1000 to the first, second and third place regional winners and their schools while the remaining regional finalists will receive US$200.