Caribbean and Latin American Students Create Posters to Save the Planet

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, 13 destinations throughout the Caribbean and Latin American region participated. Each country submitted one poster in each age category to represent its finalists.

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.

One entry per category was selected as a winner for the best message that advocated the role that each destination plays in preserving the environment.

The winning students were announced on February 23, 2011. Nearly US$26,000 in prizes and scholarships were awarded to students ages 16 and under and their schools.

Winners included 12-year-old Kaela Smith of Conrinaldi Avenue Primary from Jamaica in the Junior Division (ages 12 and younger) and 15-year-old Kerri Bascom of Queen’s College from the Bahamas in the Senior Division (ages 13-16). Kaela and Kerri, will each receive an educational scholarship of US$3,000 and an equal donation for their schools.

Kaela Smith’s poster, “Stop! Think! Reduce your Carbon Footprint!” illustrates three ways in which we can protect our environment. More so, it displays ways of preserving our environment by means of recycling, organic farming, and reforestation.  

Kerri Bascom’s poster, “Pollution, Everyone’s Problem” illustrates the different ways in preserving our environment, as well as the dangers and consequences of polluting our earth. The poster depicts the many ways in which we can educate our youth and promote forms of saving our planet.    

The FCCA also congratulates the second- and third-place winners in each division. Second-place finalists were 12-year-old Daniel Lashley from Barbados in the Junior Category and 14-year-old Sophia Taisha Boyer from Haiti in the Senior Category. Third place winners were 12-year-old Ludivine Ramaroson from Martinique in the Junior Category and 15-year-old Brenden Gonsalves 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 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.

####