MONTEGO BAY, St James — In a matter of months security at Herbert Morrison Technical High School in Montego Bay, St James, should be enhanced with the installation of a radio-frequency identification (RFID) system designed by a student.

While the development itself is pleasing to the school, it has an emotional tug as the student, Kayla Hewan, designed the system while experiencing a deep personal tragedy.

“The day I got my arduino kit, which is like foundation for all electronics that I do now, was the same day that I learned that my mom passed,” she told the Jamaica Observer. “So, I just needed something to distract my mind during that time, and that was one of the projects that I built in that time.”

Kayla, who was in grade 10 when she designed the system, explained that at the time she had seen the need for it and worked to make it happen.

The RFID system uses radio waves to identify people or objects through IDs that will be modified to allow for that sort of integration into the school’s activities.

Last Friday, during a scholarship presentation ceremony, Bevette Bowen, the STEM lead and TVET coordinator at Herbert Morrison, confirmed that the RFID will be used at the school.

“They did the prototype already and the prototype works, so what they are working on now is getting it out — the full system,” Bowen said.

She explained that the device is in the manufacturing phase and believes that it can be up and running before the end of the year.

“We sent the board to China for them to manufacture and we are just waiting on that board to come in. It should be in place before the end of this school term, around June, July,” Bowen said.

Kayla, who is now in Grade 11, explained that the device, when implemented, will create a line of demarcation, especially as it relates to access for students and staff around the school.

“The RFID system that I’ve designed for the school limits students’ access to certain areas like the teachers’ lounge or a staff lounge or mostly areas that students shouldn’t access,” she stated, then gave an example of how it will work.

“In the morning when a teacher comes in they can scan their ID card to gain access to areas like the teachers’ lounge. It will tell the time when you logged in because right now I think they write down that information, but with this, instead of doing that, they can just scan the card,” Kayla explained.

Obviously overjoyed at the development she said, “I never thought of it, but God just works some way and something just clicked in my head and here we have it now, and I can leave and say that I did that for the school.”

Bowen shared that the school administrators are very impressed by Kayla’s achievement, especially the dedication she put into the project.

“She went, did her research, even the electrical components, the coding, she’s looking at all of that,” Bowen told the Observer.

“Words cannot explain, the children are now walking around with a wealth of knowledge because this was not something anybody told her to do, she saw the need, she saw where this could be done,” the teacher added.

Last Friday, Kayla was a picture of pride as she received a scholarship from philanthropist Derrick Sudeall for the Best STEM project for grade 7-13.

Sudeall had provided $1 million in support for students at the school doing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programmes.

Kayla was also rewarded for being the top mechanical technology grade 10 student for 2023-2024.

Asked how she felt about the scholarships, she said, “Grateful, that is the only thing I can really say. God just works in some ways that makes you question, because last year around this time was the passing of my mom and then a year later, all of this is happening.

“It’s like, so fast, but at the same time it sometimes blows my mind how God works and the things that He does,” she added.

The funds, she said, will help her further studies, which could either be pursued in sixth form at Herbert Morrison or at the nearby Montego Bay Community College.

“I currently have a sister who is also doing a degree so I know for higher education the costing is going to be a little bit up there for my father, so I know I can put this towards my degree,” she said.

“In the future, there are so many things that I want to do because at one point I wanted to be a watchmaker, then I wanted to do electronics engineering, then I wanted to be a Formula One race engineer, but definitely along the lines of mechanical/electronics engineering,” she said.