BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (May 17, 2016) -- Superman has his signature letter ‘S’ embroidered on his top. St. Kitts’ home-grown super girl, Healthy Heather, has ‘H’ as her signature letter. With 14-year old Shannon Christian’s virtuosity, eating habits among the youth will never be the same.
Soft-spoken Miss Shannon Christian, a third form student at the Saddlers High School surprised many when she was recently named the winner in the Nutrition Mascot, Slogan and Design Competition that had been held in September-November 2015 and organised by the Nutrition Surveillance Programme of the Ministry of Health.
“The competition was open to current students at the secondary level in St. Kitts,” said Mrs Latoya Matthew-Duncan, Nutrition Surveillance Coordinator earlier this month during the mascot launch and award giving ceremony held at the FND Credit Union Conference Room.
“Multiple submissions by schools were allowed; however, each design was to be submitted individually and must be an original.”
According to Mrs Matthew-Duncan, 24 entries were submitted within the given deadline. Immaculate Conception Catholic School had two submissions, Washington Archibald High School had two submissions, Saddlers High School had six submissions, and Charles E. Millis Secondary School had 14 submissions.
“Submissions were judged on creativity and artistic quality, as well as how well they represent the slogan chosen on the importance of nutrition,” explained the Nutrition Surveillance Coordinator. “We at the Ministry of Ministry of Health would like to congratulate all the schools and the students who participated in Nutrition Mascot, Slogan and Design Competition.
“The mascot will be utilised as a pilot intervention aimed at improving nutrition and physical activity of school-age children. Our only regret is that there could only be one winner.”
Regret for her was certainly joy within the Saddlers High School community, as the first place winner was their very own Miss Shannon Christian, and in the second place was another surprise winner also from their school, Master Aziel Belle, a second former.
The two, who were accompanied by the school principal Ms Adina Richards at the award ceremony, were feted by Minister of State with responsibility for Health the Hon Senator Wendy Phipps.
“It is a proud feeling to begin with, and especially so because our school is the newest and the smallest high school,” said Principal Ms Richards. “It is talent that abounds us at the school, so I am very proud of my students.”
It was a surprise that the winner of the Nutrition Mascot, Slogan and Design Competition was a third form student. This was indeed confirmed by the school’s Deputy Principal Mr Maurice Benjamin who said that he was expecting a fourth form art student who would be more experienced to have been the winner.
But this did not surprise the overall winner, Miss Shannon Christian, who said: “Yes I am in third form and I do art in class. I have been drawing since I was small. I even did art in primary school and I entered a competition when I was at Estridge Primary School and I placed second.”
When the Nutrition Surveillance Programme launched the competition, it approached corporate citizens for sponsorship and among those who responded positively was the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis that sponsored the eventual winner.
As the students at Saddlers High School celebrated the win, they were joined by Ms Vernitha Maynard, Development Bank’s Support Officer for Marketing, who advised them that her institution prides itself for the role it has played in advancing the education sector in the Federation.
Saddlers High School’s Deputy Principal, Mr Maurice Benjamin, thanked the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis for offering the sponsorship for Miss Shannon Christian. He noted she was a focused student who does well not only in art but in academics as well.
“I am pleased that persons can go to Development Bank to get a loan to further their studies,” said Mr Benjamin. “I have heard that they have good interests there and many persons have had the opportunity to go off to study and have come back to develop our country.”
But if Shannon pulled a surprise, art teacher Ms Sylina Powell pointed out that the biggest surprise was pulled by the second placed Master Aziel Belle. She explained that he was the youngest finalist for the fact that he is a second former and that he is not an art student, but has an interest in art and often comes to her (Ms Powell) for advice.
The other students from the Saddlers High School who took part in the competition were Miss Terrencia Pemberton (4th Form), Master Omari Piggott (3rd Form), Miss Danecia Henry (3rd Form), and Miss Zoriah Bradshaw (4th Form). They were all presented with tokens of appreciation by Ms Vernitha Maynard of the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis.
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