Thirty-five students from various secondary schools on the island displayed their talents through projects when the 2nd SAGICOR Visionaries Challenge got underway on Monday.
The SAGICOR Visionaries Challenge was introduced to promote Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering (STEM) in schools across the Caribbean.
Some the schools include, the Saint Mary’s Academy(SMA), Pierre Charles Secondary, Saint Martin Secondary, Goodwill Secondary, Seventh Days Adventist, Dominica Grammar School, Dominica State College (DSC), Isaiah Thomas Secondary and Convent High.
Speaking at an opening ceremony held at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium, General Manager of SAGICOR Cheryll Rolle said the activity was organized to enable the youth to showcase their talent and, “to be able to make the Caribbean a better place, especially in the field of sustainability.”
According to her, in the Sagicor competition throughout the Caribbean, Dominica has the most entries.
“First of all we had the highest amount of competitors,” she explaiend. “We had initially 46 projects submitted. And I told them that they were in a much fortunate position because Antigua has no water, no rivers, Antigua has no volcanoes and so as far as sustainability we should be writing much more projects, and off course agriculture.”
A closing ceremony will be held at 3:00 p.m. at the same venue when the winners will be announced.
Minister of Education, Petter Saint Jean will address the closing ceremony.
The Sagicor Visionaries Challenge was conceptualized by Sagicor and the Caribbean Science Foundation (CSF), in partnership with the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and aims to promote the use of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) to develop effective, innovative and sustainable solutions to problems.
This year winners will once again have the opportunity to take an all-expenses paid trip to Florida where they will tour related institutions and experience S.T.E.M. in action.
I was very impressed with the projects presented by our students. Great job to all. Thumbs up to Sagicor for organizing such an event.
Hats off to Sagicor and Cheryll Rolle and all those who participated in this useful intervention in our school system. Great idea!