Caribbean and Latin American Students Create Posters to Save the Planet

Nearly US $27,000 in prizes, scholarships awarded.

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (February 12, 2010) – Each year, the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) invites students from the Caribbean and Latin America to participate in the annual FCCA Foundation Children’s Environmental Poster Competition.

This year, 15 destinations throughout the Caribbean and Latin American region participated. One entry per category was selected as a winner for the best message that advocated the role each destination plays in preserving the environment.

The winning students were announced on February 12, 2010. Nearly US$27,000 in prizes and scholarships were awarded to students ages 16 and under and their schools.

Winners included 12-year-old Kelsia J. Liburd of Gingerland Secondary from Nevis in the Junior Division (ages 12 and younger) and 14-year-old Lorenz Rowe of Calabar from Jamaica in the Senior Division (ages 13-16).

Students were asked to create a poster that visually depicted at least three ways they believe could help protect the environment and promote environmental awareness in their country. The competition’s purpose is to promote and stimulate environmental awareness among students and to effectively educate the younger generations on the importance of environmental protection.

Each country submitted one poster in each age category to represent its finalists. Kelsia Liburd’s poster, “Listen, The Time to Act is Now,” illustrates the urgency with which we must act to save our reefs and marine life. The poster depicts the negative actions that are destroying the marine life.

Lorenz Rowe’s poster, “We are our Environment,” promotes Jamaica as a clean and ecological island. The poster illustrates how we can make our environment a cleaner place. More so, it displays ways of preserving our environment by means of recycling, planting new trees, and picking up waste.

The FCCA also congratulates the second and third place winners in each division. Second place finalists were 11-year-old Shamar Abdul Hamid from St. Maarten in the Junior Category and 15-year-old Sebastian Andrews from the Bahamas in the Senior Category. Third place winners were 9-year-old Charlotte Marnoch from Cayman Islands in the Junior Category and 14-year-old Anisah Woods from Barbados in the Senior Category.

Second place winners in both categories will each receive US$1,500 and third place winners will receive US$1,000. The top winners, Kelsia and Lorenz, will each receive an educational scholarship of US$3,000. The FCCA will also award the schools of the first, second, and third place winners in both categories the same amount received by their winning student in lieu of art supplies. The other finalists in each division will receive US$200 to reward their participation and good work.