PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, the Honourable Wycliffe Smith extends his congratulations to the GIFTED Foundation on the hosting of their 4th GIFTED Royalty Awards. The foundation is set to host this year’s ceremony on Sunday, February 24th, 2019 at the Belair Community Center. There are 6 local high schools participating in this year’s event. In 2015, this initiative was launched with the “Young Kings Awards”, recognizing five dynamic young men from our local high schools in the areas of Athletics, Arts, Academics, Leadership and Community Service. In 2016, this was expanded to include the recognition of our remarkable young women in the same categories, renaming of the awards to “THE G.I.F.T.E.D. ROYALTY AWARDS”. A total of 161 students have been recognized and celebrated since we started in 2015.
In this year’s celebration of youth excellence, over 40 students have been nominated by their high schools for this prestigious recognition of their hard work, dedication, and exemplary standard in their school and in the community. According to Minister Smith, “This is a good reminder for us at a time when negative news seem to bombard us concerning our young people. However, these nominees for GIFTED Royalty Awards should be shared and celebrated in our community and on social media for their achievements. Congratulations to all the Royalty Awards nominees. You are all Young Kings and Queens!”
The profiles of all nominees have been posted on the GIFTED Foundation’s Facebook page. In making their nominations, the following exemplary students were considered by their high schools.
In Academics, these nominees are noted as excelling consistently in their academics. They are marked by discipline and diligence towards academic excellence. In Expressive Arts, these nominees are considered exceptionally skilled and dedicated to at least one discipline of The Arts. The nominees must be currently active in the expressive arts. His/her character should be marked by discipline and integrity.
In the category of Athletics, these nominees are considered exceptionally skilled and dedicated to at least one sport. The nominees are currently active in an individual or team sport. Their character is marked by discipline and sportsmanship. For Community Service, these nominees are known by their peers and teachers for giving themselves to volunteerism in school and the wider community. Their character is marked by generosity, respect and a willing spirit.
In the area of Leadership, these nominees are considered as consistent in demonstrating leadership among their peers. The nominees are esteemed as dependable and they take initiative to guide and influence his/her peers towards positive behavior. They have earned the respect of their peers as well as teachers and staff. His/her character should be marked by discipline, integrity and influence.
GIFTED Foundation is a not-for-profit organization focused on youth and community development on St. Maarten/St. Martin and the wider region. The organization’s aim is to continue highlighting the positively outstanding youth of Sint Maarten and subsequently inspire the next generation. The initiatives seek to proactively tackle social ills such as youth delinquency, crime, violence, and child-abuse, among others issues by promoting social values such as education, justice, unity, volunteerism and youth dynamism.
