Governor Eugene Holiday and his wife and the winners and runners-up of the Governor’s Youth Award for Excellence.
BELAIR--Six outstanding young persons were honoured on Friday evening by Governor Eugene Holiday for their accomplishments in the areas of arts and academics during this year’s third annual Governor’s Youth Award for Excellence ceremony.
Honoured were Devon Skeete, winner and Award recipient in Arts; Naima Hodge, winner and Award Co-Recipient in Academics; Genesis Lewis, winner and Award Co-Recipient in Academics; Kesar Vasnani, first runner-up in Academics; Ava Gibson, second runner-up in Academics and Xavier Aventurin, also second runner-up in Academics.
The finalists were honoured during an elegant ceremony held at Belair Community Center under the theme “Committed to Excellence.” Governor Eugene Holiday said he selected this theme because it is his belief that commitment fuels excellence.
This year a total of 16 nominations were received. The candidates went through a thorough evaluation by the panel of judges under the leadership of Oldine Bryson-Pantophlet.
Holiday said coming to a recommendation and selecting the winners for the categories had its challenges, because all the finalists were deserving. Based on the judges scoring, there were six finalists from amongst the 16 nominees. No finalists were selected for the categories: sports, environmental protection and community service.
Holiday said the finalists met all the award criteria and scored in the top three of their categories and where applicable were awarded as second runner-up, first runner-up or as winners of the awards.
“Having reviewed the nominations of the finalists, it is evident that each of you have put in a lot of hard work and received a lot of support. I, therefore, applaud the parents, teachers, and nominators on their efforts to develop and nurture the young finalists present with us this evening,” Holiday told the finalists.
He said as a country, people are St. Maarten’s foremost important resource. “Our nation’s success now and in the future stands or falls with the quality of the performance of our people in the workplace, in academics, in sports, in the arts, in community activities, in the protection of our environment and more,” he said.
“It is therefore our obligation to invest in our people. And the best place to start is with investing in our youth. That is, we must teach them, guide them, mould them, invest in them to be the absolute best they can be. That calls for commitment from parents, teachers, and mentors towards the advancement of our youth. It calls for commitment from our churches, organizations, our communities, and our government towards the advancement of our youths. Commitment that encourages and inspires our children to be committed to excellence in whatever the task.”
He said the Governor’s Youth Award For Excellence is as a result aimed at encouraging young persons to always strive for excellence. The Award recognises youths, ages 13 through 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 the candidates’ skills in terms of their consistent outstanding achievements in their specific field of interest; to capture their dedication to their education; to capture their special qualities in terms of their determination, respect for peers and teachers; and to capture their potential to inspire.
The Governor congratulated the winners and runners-up. “I trust that this award ceremony will inspire you to continue to be committed to excellence and to be a role model for your peers.”
He thanked Bryson-Pantophlet, Cassandra Janssen, Dr. Rolinda Carter, Maikel Cornet, Clara Reyes, Ruben Thompson and Fabiana Vanterpool-Arnell for their efforts in evaluating and scoring each nominee. He also thanked Guy Simmon and his staff, who worked tirelessly to organise and make the event possible.
