The local arm of Junior Achievement, which teaches entrepreneurship, financial literacy and work readiness to primary and high school students, bestowed awards on 40 companies and individuals at its Champions for Youth Awards Banquet two Fridays ago.

The event, now in its seventh consecutive year, honours the top teacher in each parish, as well as the companies that have been remarkable in their support of the organisation for the year.

The banquet was held under the theme, ‘Unmasking Excellence’.

The top teachers per parish were: Salomie Dunkley (Knockalva Technical High School in Hanover), Saskiea Whyte (Manning’s High School in Westmoreland), Tyneth Thompson-Wright (Anchovy Primary School in St James), Andre Robinson (Hastings Primary in Trelawny), Roxanna Bailey-Black (Nain Technical High in St Elizabeth), Vincent Lawes (Dinthill Technical High in St Catherine), Letesha O’Meally (Horace Clarke High in St Mary), Duval Ebanks (Camperdown Primary in St Ann), Alha Davis (Fairfield Primary in Manchester), Kimoy Benjamin (Kellits Primary in Clarendon), Jheanelle Lee-Williams (Convent of Mercy Academy “Alpha” in St Andrew), Elaine Bryan (Port Antonio High in Portland), Marsharee Young (Allman Hill Primary in St Andrew), and Damian Anderson (Minto Primary in St Thomas).

“We had so many great teachers in our programme this year. As we expand, now on a trajectory to reach over 100,000 youth by 2020, selecting one teacher per parish was a difficult task,” explained president of Junior Achievement Jamaica, Alphie Mullings-Aiken. “We appreciate the work done by each and every teacher and company.”

Special recognition was extended to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information at the awards event for consistently supporting the organisation since it opened its doors in 2009. Dr Nadine Leachman, deputy chief executive officer, received the award on behalf of the ministry.

“The Ministry of Education Youth and Information (MoEYI) was there with us from inception. Now, as we continue to grow, the ministry is helping to play a pivotal role in our expansion. We are continuing to support the ministry in rolling out entrepreneurship is all high schools as a part of the National Standards’ Curriculum,” Mullings-Aiken said.

She was referring to the Junior Achievement Company of Entrepreneurs (JACE) programme which teaches grade nine students, in particular, fundamental business and entrepreneurial concepts. Starting next school year, the programme will be part of the formal curriculum, and in addition to classroom theory, students will operate businesses, and sell products and services.

In addition to the MoEYI, the other organisations that received awards were CB Group, GB Energy, Ernst & Young Services Limited, Flow, Insurance Company of the West Indies, Jamaica Public Service, GraceKennedy, Scotiabank, Citibank, the United States Agency for International Development, Financial Services Commission, Drink Real Milk, First Heritage Co-Operative Credit Union, The Gleaner Company — Children’s Own, FedEx and CUSO.

“It is the involvement and dedication of various public and private sector partners that have assisted us at Junior Achievement Jamaica to continue to guide youth in meeting their financial and career goals,” JA Jamaica (JAJ) Chairman Paul Lalor said.

“We continue to share the value of Junior Achievement in building Jamaica’s economy, from them learning to write cheques to understanding how to develop and execute business plans.”

JA Jamaica is a registered non-profit organisation focused on preparing youth ages 5-24 to be globally competitive in business and own their economic success. Since 2009, JAJ has reached over 80,000 youth through partnerships with the MoEYI and several private and public organisations.