Governor Eugene Holiday presents the award to Faith Peterson (co-recipient in the category Arts).
BELAIR--Three young persons have added a feather in their caps as recipients of the 2021 Governor’s Youth Award For Excellence.
Faith Peterson was awarded co-recipient in the category Arts, Tefari Prevoo Francisco was co-recipient in the category Arts and Jamie Lynch was recipient in the category Academics. Governor Eugene Holiday presented the three with their awards during the second annual Governor’s Youth Awards For Excellence ceremony at the Belair Community Center on Thursday, June 24.
Peterson is a young lady who was introduced to the art form of dance at the age of three. She is a gifted and talented dancer, gymnast/acrobat and singer, who has arrived at this pinnacle in her young life through her consistent work ethic. Peterson is “a triple threat”, which for the layman simply means she is equally gifted in acting, singing and dancing, as well as circus arts. She is a true example of and proponent for what hard work and commitment to excellence delivers, it was stated in a press release.
Francisco started selling jewellery at the age of nine to pay for her violin lessons. So began the journey, which at the age of 14, in five years, has created the result that celebrates excellence as an artist. Undaunted and steadfast from her first fundraising efforts at age nine to her first performance at age 11 in front of 60 persons, to the gargantuan stage of the Heineken Regatta and to the present, this vanguard for music has continued her stride toward excellence in her craft.
Lynch was selected as the recipient of the Governor’s Youth Award For Excellence in Academics. She is a young lady who has her mind set on excelling in every aspect of her life. In 2016, while attending Methodist Agogic Center (MAC), she scored in the 98th percentile on the Foundation-Based Education (FBE) Exit Examination and was in the top five students of the 526 who sat the exam. At Learning Unlimited (LU), she continued to excel and maintained a weighted GPA of above 4.0.
To complement her academic performance, she joined a public speaking class and now, as a member of the St. Maarten Youth Parliament, she organises the debates.
The awards ceremony took place before an audience of 30 invited guests as well as online viewers and was guided by Mistress of Ceremony Fabiana Vanterpool-Arnell. The ceremony consisted of the official opening by Holiday, musical tributes to the 2021 awardees and their parents and teachers, and the presentation of the awards, amongst other things.
Tamillia Chance performed the song Rise Up as well as her own single “Do me,” Shanica Chance sang “You Raise Me Up” and Cherrieanne Dangleben York performed “One moment in time” on steel pan.
In delivering his opening address Holiday stated: “As your hosts, Marie-Louise and I are pleased to recognise and share the achievements of several of our outstanding youths with you. The recipients are outstanding youths who in their respective fields have made it a habit to be excellent.
“We are as a result here to acknowledge and celebrate their excellence. We are doing so because we all agree that our children are our future. It is therefore our obligation to teach, guide and invest in them to be the very best they can be. The Governor’s Youth Award For Excellence is, as a result, aimed at encouraging young persons to always strive for excellence.”
Having reviewed the nominations of the finalists, Holiday concluded that it is evident that they have put in a lot of hard work and received a lot of support from their community. He therefore applauded the parents, teachers, and nominators on their efforts to develop and nurture the young finalists.
Addressing the finalists, Holiday said: “I hereby congratulate you and I trust that this award ceremony will inspire you to continue to strive for excellence and to be a role model for your peers.
“And as you continue to strive for excellence, I wish to leave you with these words from my mother and from the great philosopher Aristotle. My mother inspired me to be the best that I could be. She often told me, ‘Work for it and you can be anything you want to be.’ She was right.
And it was the great philosopher Aristotle who reminded us, and I quote: ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.’ Unquote.
“With that I advise all to work for what you want and make it a habit to be excellent. I repeat: work for what you want and make it a habit to be excellent.”
The award recognises youths ages 13-19 who have excelled in academics, sports, arts, environmental protection, or community service. It recognises excellence as a mindset, as a habit, in that it seeks to capture candidates’ skills in terms of their consistent outstanding achievements in their specific field of interest; their dedication to their education; their special qualities in terms of their determination, respect for peers and teachers; and their potential to inspire.
A total of 20 nominations were received this year. All 20 candidates went through a thorough evaluation by a distinguished panel of judges on the Governor’s Youth Awards For Excellence Evaluation Committee: Oldine Bryson-Pantophlet (Chair); Cassandra Janssen (Secretary), Dr. Rolinda Carter, Maikel Cornet, Clara Reyes and Rueben Thompson.
Based on the judges’ scoring there were five finalists from the 20 nominees. No finalists were selected for the categories sports, environmental protection, or community service.
Holiday thanked the panel of judges for evaluating and scoring each nominee. He also extended his appreciation to the evaluation committee members and to his staff who worked tirelessly to organise and make the second annual Governor’s Youth Awards For Excellence possible.
Present at the ceremony were Minister of Education, Culture Youth and Sport Rodolphe Samuel and Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor Omar Ottley, as well as recipients of the 2020 Awards Nigel Adriana, Riya Baharani and Sara Bharwani as guests of honour.
Due to obligations overseas Ray-Angel Boasman could not be present.
Governor Eugene Holiday presents the award to Tefari Prevoo Francisco (co-recipient in the category Arts).
Governor Eugene Holiday presents the award to Jamie Lynch (recipient in the category Academics).
