BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE brightest or top students of each primary school along with the most improved students will be given a treat this Friday, April 20, at the New Town playing field.
The TDC Fun Zone will be held from April 20-22 but the first day will be for the outstanding students only, who will receive gold bands and will be allowed to participate in the activities for free.
This initiative is the brainchild of Lloyd Isaac of Livi Inflatables based in Antigua who said that he thought of the idea when he came here a year and a half ago.
“I was kind of surprised to see the violence the newspapers were showcasing. I didn’t expect it to be that bad for a small population, even smaller than Antigua, and there was a huge sense of drugs and drug issues,” he said.
“So I had an overwhelming feeling to do something positive.”
Isaac said that he thought of recognizing an outstanding school and its top students but then decided to extend the idea to include the top students and most improved student of each of the primary schools in St. Kitts.
He said he wanted to showcase that there were actually children who were doing positive things and that there were students who were focused on their future.
After speaking with Chief Education Officer, Patrick Welcome of the Ministry of Education, they decided to come out with the Gold Band of Excellence Award, to help motivate the children to focus on their education through incentives.
Those incentives would be the fun and exciting inflatable rides from bouncing castles to the inflatable basketball court to a mechanical bull.
They also decided that in order for the event to truly motivate children, it cannot be a one off scenario and has to be a motivational goal for the children to strive for each year, and Isaac revealed that they have agreed to host the event for another five years.
He said that a similar initiative has been held in Antigua for the past two years where a company would sponsor a school and its students would enjoy the fun zone for an entire day.
Late last month, the top and most improved students were informed of the initiative at Warner Park.
Welcome said they wanted to recognize the students for the hard work they have been doing.
“You are precious; you are the best in your class; you are the brightest young people in St. Kitts, so continue to be bright and continue to achieve.
“I believe your parents and your teachers are very proud of you and we want to honour you,” he said.
The fun will begin on Friday April 20 at 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. and will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday April 21 and 22 from 2:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.
The sponsors include TDC, Digicel, The Cable, Dominoes Pizza and SKNVibes.
