Twenty youths were awarded on March 24 at the 2013 Prime Minister’s Youth Awards for Excellence for their excellence in youth service and outstanding contribution to nation building.

The awardees are:

Leadership: Rashid Hall, Randy Goldson and Kenneth Gordon.

Youth in Service: Caldon Shirley, Jordon Bennett, and Oniel Clarke.

Journalism: Simon Preston and Basillia Barnaby.

International Achievent: Shevaughn Whyte, Kimroy Bailey and Devoy Raymond.

Entrepreneurship: Andrew Khan

Arts & Culture: Romaine Virgo and Chantelle Biersay

Agriculture: Jean-Pierre Campbell

Academics: Timar Jackson and Kimani Kitson-Walters.

Olympic 200 metre bronze medalist Warren Weir, 23-year-old, was among the awardees in the category of Sports along with Alia Atkinson and Alvas Powell.

According to him, copping the Prime Minister’s Youth Award in the category of Sports was a wonderful accomplishment for him.

“It’s an excellent feeling, being awarded by the country for your work,” Weir told teenAGE in an interview after the awards ceremony was concluded.

The 2013 Prime Minister Youth Awards Ceremony was held at the Emancipation Park in Kingston on March 24.

Kitson-Walters, 2012 valedictorian for the Faculty of Science & Technology at the University of the West Indies (UWI), who graduated with a 3.78 GPA for his Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology and Marine Biology and Jackson, another graduate of UWI with a GPA of 4.12 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science, were awarded in the category of Academics.

Campbell, 22, who hails from the community of Mosquito Valley in St Andrew where he operates a small poultry farm, was the sole awardee in the category of agriculture for 2013.

Virgo and Biersay were awarded in the category of Arts & Culture; Khan was awarded in the category of Entrepreneurship; Devoy Raymond, Kimroy Bailey and Shevaughn Whyte were awarded in the category of International Achievement; Barnaby and Preston; Gordon, Goldson and Hall were awarded in the category of Leadership and Caldon Shirley, Jordon Bennett and Oneil Clarke were awarded in the category of Youth in Service.

Given that the Prime Minister’s Youth Awards was not held in 2012, the 2011 recipients were awarded on March 24 at the Emancipation Park.

According to Lisa Hanna, Minister of Youth & Culture the 2012 awardees chosen are hardworking youths who were deserving of their awards.

“The nominees for the Prime Minister’s Youth Awards for Excellence for 2011 and 2012 are beautiful stars shining with brilliance in their own unique way in their schools, churches, communities, in the nation and overseas,” Hanna stated in her release for the awards ceremony.

“I welcome this opportunity to extend hearty congratulations to these outstanding young Jamaicans. Your nominations reflect the high esteem in which you are held and the positive impact of your various achievements across many spheres of Jamaica’s national life,” she further stated.

According to Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, the selected members of the 2013 Prime Minister Youth Awards are persevering individuals, who have distinguished themselves locally, regionally and internationally and are deserving of national recognition.

“I offer my heartiest congratulations to the award recipients and to all the nominees. I commend them on their achievement. I encourage them to continue to be mentors and leaders inspiring hope in our nation,” Prime Minister-Miller said.

The Prime Minister’s Youth Awards for Excellence was instituted in 1998 by former Prime Minister, PJ Patterson, to recognise the accomplishments of our young people. It signals the high priority that the Government places on Jamaican youth and its appreciation of the tremendous contribution being made by them.

— Ainsworth Morris