BVI SDA Secondary School students empowered @ leadership forum
The event was also dubbed ‘Bold & Gold’ as the boys, characterised as Bold, had their sessions separately from the girls, characterised as Gold.
Highlights
One of the highlights for the boys were talks done by officials and inmates of Her Majesty’s Prison, who spoke up against bullying and disrespecting fellow students and teachers, and urged the attentive students to value their education and avoid mixing with bad company.
One of the highlights for the girls was a session on 'Etiquette and Deportment' by Ms Rochelle Lawrence of Pristine School of Ettiquette.
Ms Lawrence had the students fully engaged and participating, including in walking and sitting gracefully and with proper posture.
The students were not shy to try balancing books on their heads while walking and sitting.
The girls were also given a surprise appearance by Mr Caribbean, Yohance T. Smith, who serenaded the ecstatic young ladies in song.
Empowering for a brighter tomorrow
According to Coordintor of the event, Ms Kaydene P. Walker, the main goal of the 2nd staging of the Boys and Girls Only Leadership Development session, is to improve the personal and social development of the students.
“As girls’ blossom into ladies, and boys’ develop into gentlemen, it is imperative that they are equipped with the skills and the knowledge of behaviours that will help them to behave in an acceptable manner. Thus the Bold and Gold programme is aimed to equip students with the skills and knowledge that will assist them in the development process."
The theme this year was “Empowering Girls/Boys for a Brighter Tomorrow”.
Ms Walker told Virgin Islands News Online this year the committee decided to focus on five key areas.
“Based on observations made, these issues were specifically chosen to better enlighten our girls and boys, to key personal and social issues that affect them as teenagers, as well as to instil and reinforce core values that we believe as an institution would make them more rounded as they develop and interact in society.”
Gold presenters
Among the presenters to the girls was poet and presenter for 284 Media, Ms Jovan K. Wilson, who did a moving presentation on the topic 'Body Image and Self Esteem'. Ms Wilson shared how she struggled with self-esteem until she discovered herself.
Dr Paula Trotman-Hastings spoke on 'Taking Care of me' (body care and personal hygiene), and Dr Michelle M. Martin of Therapy to Thrive presented on 'Mental Health and Depression'.
Ms Walker shared that during the final session with the girls, a few of them pointed out some topics they would be interested in hearing for the next staging, one of which included 'Nutrition and Exercise', “this will therefore be looked at for future events.”
Bold presenters
The boys began their session with Devotion by Pastor Jerome Bevans and were then given a presentation on the topic ‘Growing Up Male’ by Pastor Hesketh Matthews of St Croix.
Mr Matthews also had a ‘Stewardship Session’ with the boys, as the final presentation for the day.
Other presenters were youth mentor, musician and former school counsellor, Mr Jovan E. L. Cline, who spoke about ‘Positive Thinking and Meeting Your Goals’; and Mr. Henderson K. Tittle, who addressed the issue of ‘Drug Dealing’.
Event was birthed out of concerns by teachers
Ms Walker admitted that students were a little hesitant to participate in the programme at first, but they did however turn up in their gold and red outfits or accessories on the day of the event and were not disappointed.
“They were quite in tuned with the presentations, and participated as presenters interacted with them. Most students seemed to have really enjoyed the day’s presentation, and gave comments that it was a good day.”
Similar sentiments were shared by the school’s principal, Mr Wade W. Tobin.
“I think the day’s activity was very good. The children learnt a lot,” Mr Tobin told Virgin Islands News Online, adding that it was the second such event and the school plans to make it an annual one.
He disclosed that the event was birthed out of the concerns that teachers had with some of the attitudes and practices that they saw students displaying.
“And so we thought it was very important for students to be exposed to best practices as it relates to etiquette, respecting each other, and of course there are some life experiences that we want to expose our students to, such as the inmates from Her Majesty’s Prison coming and sharing their experiences. Those real life experiences are always critical to students’ development.”
Mr Tobin also mentioned this was the first time the school had the participation of Mr Hesketh Matthews, the Stewardship Director, “and so it was important for students to hear about stewardship.”
Appreciation was also directed to the teachers involved in pulling of “a well-executed programme” particularly the event coordinator Ms Kaydene P. Walker and Ms Shauna-Kay A. Miller.
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7 Responses to “BVI SDA Secondary School students empowered @ leadership forum”
In the long run. Discipline, Respect and the love for doing will have a positive impact on their lives. Congratulations to all who attend yet huge congratulations to those who made this possible.lets continue to positively support our youths