Kera Thompson (left), Sasha-Gaye Isaacs (centre) and Peta-Gaye Doyley -- three members of the Wolmer's team which took first place in the recent world environment competition -- discuss elements of their winning project: 'Giving Life to Ruins', which focused on urban renewal for specific areas of downtown Kingston.

A team from the Wolmer's High School for Girls recently won first place in the worldwide environmental competition -- "My Community, Our Earth".

More than 200 student teams from 24 countries participated in the competition and the eight Wolmer's students and their geography teacher, Arlene Morgan, were facilitated locally through the Ministry of Land and Environment.

The competition was held in partnership with the Geographic Learning of Sustainable Development and the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

The winning Wolmer's Girls team comprised fifth form students, Lydia Morrison, Sophia McKnight, Crystal Thompson, Sasha-Gaye Isaacs, Kimberly Jones, Peta-Gaye Doyley, Kera Thompson, and their elected leader, sixth former, Althea Foster.

Initially, Wolmer's Girls was among 11 other local schools invited to participate in the competition, but ended up being the sole Jamaican entrant.

"Giving Life to Ruins" the project they submitted, received 50 points out of a possible 60 in the preliminary round and 53 out of 60 in the second round, earning Wolmer's the highest points in the competition.

The evaluators included geographers, representatives of the World Bank and United Nations as well as the Unites States Department of Agriculture and the Inter-American Development Bank.

The team members spoke with JIS News recently about the competition.

Lydia Morrison explained animatedly how Morgan placed students in groups and outlined the competition to those who were interested. She recalled Morgan saying, "Let's work together and just do it".

Added Lydia: "There were many groups at first but many dropped out ... I guess we were the ones who were more interested and wanted to finish it so we formed a group and did the project."

The project focused on urban renewal for a specified area of downtown Kingston, which was overrun with street vendors. The young women dedicated close to four weeks to research, conducting interviews with vendors, and formulating workable solutions to address the problems.

The solutions involved methods to reduce the number of vendors on the streets in addition to curbing the incidents of violence that occur and remodelling derelict buildings into serviceable ones. Group leader, Althea Foster, also said a part of their solution was "to upgrade the area to make it exactly what it is -- the central business district where Jamaicans from all walks of life would be proud to walk".

Deftly juggling time for the project with schoolwork, the students were granted permission to have time off during school hours to carry out research at the Urban Development Corporation and the Statistical Institute of Jamaica while still attending classes.

They all concurred that the workload was manageable and did not disrupt their regular studies.

Asked how it felt to emerge winners from a competition that was open to secondary schools, universities and colleges worldwide, the young women's faces simultaneously lit up. Though they learnt of their success in August, they were still visibly thrilled.

"It was unexpected," Peta-Gaye Doyley admitted. "I knew we had a good project and when I started I said, 'yes, we have entered this competition', but when I saw the outcome, I was really proud of myself."

An elated Arlene Morgan beamed while she acknowledged the achievement of her young charges.

"I am most pleased," Morgan said, adding, "I particularly like the fact that they are getting the level of exposure. They met then minister of state Fitz Jackson, in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, which under normal circumstances, they would not have, and they have also received attention from the media."

She added that the students' involvement in the project was beneficial to them as it exposed them to different aspects of geographical research.

"It (geography) is a dying subject," Morgan said. She added that she hoped that participation in the project would stir sustained interest in the subject among young women in post-secondary education.

With the project completed and receiving recognition, Kera Thompson commented, "seeing that we've gotten so far, we would like our ideas to be put forward and be used".

Though the jury is still out on whether their concepts will ever be utilised, the young women were recently honoured at a ceremony organised by their school on Marescaux Road. The eight were recipients of awards presented by then minister of state, Fitz Jackson, who was the guest speaker at the ceremony.

Meanwhile, permanent secretary in the land and environment ministry, Jacqueline daCosta, told JIS News that "as initiators of the Geography Information Systems in Schools Programme under which Wolmer's Girls entered the competition, the ministry is very excited and encouraged by this exceptional achievement".

"All support given to the schools participating in the programme is given on a voluntary basis and this achievement certainly serves as an incentive to continue the work the ministry and the Land Information Council of Jamaica are doing."

As part of their first prize award, the students and their teachers will be travelling to view their exhibit at the International Conference on Sustainable Development, which is being held at different locations overseas.

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