Cul De Sac:--- The United Student Government Front (USGF), under the mission of promoting civic involvement, leadership, and academic excellence among students of secondary schools on St. Maarten, is calling on all high school student councils to attend its first event of the calendar year on Friday, January 20, at Milton Peters College.The annual board games competition is being organized for all students of the various high schools to see who can take home to prizes for best chess and dominoes players.
Every year, USGF brings the teens together to form positive bonds and share ideas on how to make their schools better.
This event carries an extra celebratory theme as the students now have a public platform to showcase their activities. With support from Windward Island Bank, USGF was able to launch its website last December at St. Dominic High School in the presence of representatives from the host school, St. Maarten Academy and PSVE, Caribbean International Academy, Milton Peters College, and St. Maarten Vocational Training School. The website address is sxmstudentsgov.org. Its launch also marked the fifth anniversary of the umbrella organization. Sundial and Learning Unlimited also form part of the organization.
USGF started in 2007 after one parent made the suggestion that there should a general organization that brings all student bodies on the island together. At that time, there were four known student councils of government-subsidized high schools on St. Maarten.After exchanging views at St. Dominic High School, students of the host school contacted other schools and encouraged the first meeting of what today is known as the United Student Government Front. Through sharing of ideas and activities that worked, the participating students were able to return to their respective schools and enhance or build their own student councils.
The new website hopes to create a forum for more interaction. Since its inception, the USGF has grown from strength to strength with each school contributing ideas and new platforms. The organization has moved from being a mere meeting and sharing ground, to one that offers leadership, financial and Parliamentary training, as well as opportunities to interact socially, for members and mentors of the participating schools.
In the past years, members of the USGF were given to opportunity to participate in the Youth Toastmaster Club. Such training aided the leadership and communication skills of the young scholars.
This year's board games, like previous years, will continue with prizes sponsored by businesses. Among the major sponsors over the years are Domino's Pizza and BIMACO and the organization expresses heartfelt appreciation for their support.