Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 09, 2009 (SKNIS): November’s commemoration of Youth Month was hailed a success by the Director of Youth, Geoffrey Hanley, who said there is much to learn from the performance of the Washington Archibald High School, which won two competitions.

The school was adjudged the best in the first annual Clash of the High School talent competition held on November 28. One week later, students showed their skills in another field, cooking.

“Well, not surprisingly, the Washington Archibald High School is the winner of the Youth Department’s High School Cook-Off,” a very confident Juliana Joseph said flanked by her teammate Kellian Kelly. “We are proud students,” Joseph stressed, “Yeah,” Kelly shouted in agreement. 

Director Hanley commended all participating schools and congratulated the winners on this week’s edition of SKNIS Perspectives.

“Whenever the Washington Archibald High School is involved in anything, the teachers get involved, the students get involved and they really turn it into a celebration,” he said, referring to the excitement and energy that goes into the preparations.

The youth director noted that on occasions when the school loses a contest the students maintain a positive attitude and vow to perform better the next time. He said that this spirit has been a key factor in the success of the educational institution.

“Once you encourage our young people, you’ll be surprised to know what they will be able to achieve,” he stressed. “We have to be very, very careful of the words that we use sometimes to our young people.”

Mr. Hanley explained that the culinary competition was welcomed with open arms by the schools and he was impressed that so many boys took part. In fact, the four participating schools were represented by five males and three females in total.

The students learnt teamwork and had to call on their imagination and creativity as they were not told of what ingredients they were using until the start of the contest. Director Hanley said his Department was prepared to enhance the cook off competition in the future in order to ensure interested individuals are positively engaged in desirable activities.