MANDEVILLE, Manchester – Andrea Ricketts and three of her students from Kilsyth Primary School in Clarendon almost did not turn up to win $100,000 cash and other prizes at the recent Jamaica Public Service Company/Scientific Research Council/Association of Science Teachers of Jamaica science fair.

The fair was held at the Golf View Hotel in Mandeville on February 15.

“I got here at 11 o’clock, when I should have been here at 8 o’clock and I was going to turn back because I said it was too late,” an overwhelmed Ricketts said after her school copped the top prize in a competition that included tertiary and secondary schools. “We just won a hundred thousand dollars!” Ricketts screamed into her cellular phone afterwards.

“JPS said we should use the money for our science department, which is good, because we don’t even have a science department,” the tearful teacher added.

The school’s project, “Chick Weed: Helping those in need”, was inspired by a need to help the high number of students with ringworm and fungi. Ricketts and her students processed the chick weed in various forms so students with illnesses could benefit.

“The parents are very poor so they can’t afford treatments, so we talked to the elderly people in the community and the chick weed looked like the best one,” Ricketts said.

The chick weed can be boiled and administered orally. It can also be made into a paste or can be boiled and poured over the head to cure colds, ringworm and fungi.

The students from Kilsyth, Shevaughn Channer, Asheema Walker and Ricketts’ daughter, Liandra Ricketts, also walked away with a $20,000 prize for best display. Ricketts herself won a personal $20,000 cash prize, as the teacher behind the project.

Winston Jones High School from Manchester was also a big winner at the fair for their project, which showed how a bicycle could purify its own energy. They walked away with the $50,000 overall third prize, which also carried a $10,000 prize for the teacher.

Two students from Winston Jones – Ranceroy Beezer and Sharnelle Lewis – won $10,000 cash prizes and plaques for being the best male and female presenters. Winston Jones also walked away with the best display prize for grades seven to nine.

In his report, chief judge Dr Cliff Riley said he was pleased with the level of scientific knowledge of the students, especially among the primary school students.

Riley reiterated an admonition the students received from main speaker Dr Michael Taylor to become “MAD” scientists: motivated by the common good, accepts that there are challenges to doing science and dares to dream dreams.