Jayde Thomas, a second year student enrolled in the Architectural Technology programme at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College is the 3rd place winner in the 2022 ECCB Youth Poetry Competition sponsored by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) and the Regional Security System Asset Recovery Unit (RSS-ARU).
Jayde has been awarded a student grant of EC$1,500.00 and the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College will receive a development grant of EC$1,000.00.
Jayde wrote on the topic, "My Vision for My Caribbean Home" with a poem entitled, My Dream Caribbean Home.
A Virtual Prize Giving Ceremony was held in September with the participants, judges, mentor teachers and school principals invited to attend. The competition was open to students age 13-19 from ECCB Member states.
The main objective of the competition is to provide an avenue to engage students on issues that impact the lives of the people of the ECCB member countries, and to allow them to express their perspectives on these matters in creative ways. The topics for the 2022 competition were as follows:
The Entrepreneur
Skills Equal Money
My Vision for My Caribbean Home
All entries were submitted in January 2022; they were not to exceed 40 lines in length and were judged anonymously.
I was happy to showcase my talent and express my views on the topic. Although the experience was a bit stressful being restricted to a topic, I enjoyed the challenge and persevered through it.
Jayde Thomas, Third Place Winner of the ECCB Poetry Competition
Jayde's poem, My Dream Caribbean Home, can be read here.
