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Turks & Caicos Islands Annual Primary School Spelling Bee

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#TurksandCaicos, June 5, 2023 – Tianna Kerr of Alpha Christian Academy captured the title of Champion Speller at the Turks and Caicos Islands Annual National Primary School Spelling Bee (NPSSB) held on Thursday, 25th May 2023, at Beaches Turks and Caicos.  The Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports, and Social Services congratulates Miss Kerr, her parents, and her coach, Heather Robertson, a veteran who coached the champion speller in 2005.

Twelve (12) talented spellers from across the country competed for the coveted title of Champion Speller:

Adelaide Oemler Primary – Darius Bassett and Coach Stafford Salmon

Alpha Christian Academy – Tianna Kerr and Coach Heather Robertson

BEST Institute – Sydney Kay Brisbane and Coach Mrs. Tanisha Rigby

Enid Capron Primary – George Williams and coach Ms. Sacha Deans

Ianthe Pratt Primary – Mark Morrison and Coach Ms. Natalia Butterfield

International School of the TCI – Lola Jimenez and coach Ms. Iman Rudi-Bonotti

MILLS Institute – Nathan Forbes and Coach Mrs. Denesha Robinson

Ona Glinton Primary – Joneil Belzi and Coach Ms. Jacqueline Henry

Oseta Jolly Primary – Ruth Lormine and Coach Ms. Tevynn Lewis

Providence International Academy – Kian Jules and Coach Ms. Karla Williams

Provo Christian Academy – Marbelli Castillo and Coach Ms. Crystal Glinton

Thelma Lightbourne Primary – David Lawrence and Coach Ms. Alexa Greene

At the end of ten intense rounds of spelling, there was a tie.  After round 11, Tianna Kerr scored 42 points, and Ruth Lormine scored 41 points.  Ruth was determined to hold on to the title held by the Oseta Jolly Primary School in 2019 and 2022.

The top Three winners were:

1st place Alpha Christian Academy – Tianna Kerr;

1st Runner Up Oseta Jolly Primary – Ruth Lormine

2nd Runner Up Ona Glinton Primary – Joneil Benzi

The 2023 Spelling Bee’s primary sponsors were F Chambers and Island Printing, with usual support from Flow TCI and The Sandals Foundation.

The following prizes were sponsored by F Chambers and Island Printing

Grand Prize/Winner: MacBook Air,

1st Runner-Up Prize: Apple iPad Mini

2nd Runner-Up Prize: Apple iPad Mini

Prizes for the top 7 spellers: Galaxy Tablet A7 Lite

Prizes for remaining participants: $50 gift certificates

Champion Trophies for the Champion Speller, Runners Up, and Champion Coach, and complimentary Trophies for the remaining spellers.

FLOW TCI also sponsored an Asus Laptop for the coach of the champion speller.

The Minister of Education, Hon. Rachael Taylor, said, ‘I congratulate all the champion spellers of  2023 who are indeed winners and who represented their schools well at the Bee.  We are proud of you!  I especially want to congratulate our winner, Tianna Kerr, and the Alpha Christian Academy Family!  These events confirm that our children are indeed dedicated and committed students.

An event such as the annual Spelling Bee could only happen with the support of principals, coaches, teachers, and parents.  Special mention must be made of the efforts of coaches and teachers who remained dedicated to the training of the participants despite their hectic schedules.  Their contribution has once again made this year’s spelling bee a success.

A special thank you is extended to all volunteers who helped to make the competition a success:

Chairperson: Mrs. Sophia Garland

Scorers: Ms. Evadne Williams and Mr. Hugh Adams

Judges: Ms. Jasmine Malcolm, Mrs. Latoya Simpson, and Pastor Pedro S Williams

Pronouncers: Mrs. Cherylann Foreman and Ms. Kawanza Morley

Time Keeper: Mr. Christopher Foster

Expressions of gratitude are extended to Mr. Orville Morgan, photographer; Mr. Gary Andrew, Technician; Ms. Tanya Swann, Director of Sales, Groups, and Conventions at Beaches Turks and Caicos, for coordinating the hosting of the event at the resort and providing complimentary snacks; Mr. Greg Been, Ms. Zoia Fessler and Mr. Chris Jarrett, Director of RTC, for live coverage on Radio Turks & Caicos.

The Ministry and Department of Education are grateful for the 2023 Annual Spelling Bee sponsorship made possible through the generous partnership of Mr. Mark Fulford, Managing Partner of F Chambers, and Mrs. Ava Fulford, Founder and Managing Director of Island Printing.  Special thanks to our long-term partners, Flow TCI and The Sandals Foundation, who continue to be gracious hosts of this event.  Thank you for your remarkable partnership.

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Caribbean News

Scholarship and Grants Digital Portal for Caribbean Students by ACMF

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Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#ACMF#Scholarhsip, March 21, 2024 – U.S. non-profit tax-exempt organization, the  American Caribbean Maritime Foundation (ACMF),  has now made scholarship and grant applications digital with a user-friendly platform as announced in a release on March 18. The organization says the site is open, accepting applications from Caribbean high school and tertiary level students, with a deadline of April 30th 2024. ACMF has proved to be beneficial to Caribbean students as it has funded full tuition and grants for about two hundred scholars and grantees from nine Caribbean countries including  Jamaica, The Bahamas, Suriname and St Vincent and the Grenadines. 

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Caribbean News

MARITIME FOUNDATION FOR THE CARIBBEAN LAUNCHES AN ONLINE SCHOLARSHIP PORTAL

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Boca Raton, Fl (March 18, 2024):  The ACMF has taken its scholarship and grant application digital with an easy-to-use platform  https://apply.acmfdn.org/

The site which accepts applications from high school and tertiary level students from across the Caribbean, is open from January 1st, with a deadline of April 30th for all applications to be submitted.  “I think students will find the portal easy to use and the platform makes the application more accessible to students across the Caribbean”, says Dr. Brown Metzger, President of the American Caribbean Maritime Foundation.

ACMF has funded full tuition and grants for approximately two hundred scholars and grantees in nine Caribbean countries, namely, Jamaica, Bahamas, Suriname, St. Lucia, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Guyana.

With the shipping industry beginning to look at non-traditional sources for talent, the Caribbean is starting to take its place among the United States, China, and the Philippines as a rich source of world-class talent for the cruise, cargo and the oil and gas sectors, including on- and off-shore.

“Our focus is on professional positions”, according to Juan Carlos Croston, Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Manzanillo International Terminal – PANAMA, who also serves as Chair of the ACMF Scholarship Committee.  Mr. Croston continues, “ACMF scholars have demonstrated their talent and the world-class training they receive at our academic partners”.

The Caribbean is competitive in quality of training, diversity of skill sets, and geographic proximity for all workers in the industry.  Jamaica alone churns out hundreds of officer level talent annually, many with Bachelors in navigation and engineering.  Additionally, the country potentially generates STCW-qualified and ratings candidates in the thousands.

ACMF donors include some of the biggest cruise and cargo brands, such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Cruise. Cargo brands include Tropical Shipping, Seaboard Marine, Arawak Port Development, Dubai Port World, Seacor Island Marine, and Crowley, to name a few.

 

About the American Caribbean Maritime Foundation (ACMF)

 The ACMF is a U.S. non-profit tax-exempt organization, and is the only entity solely dedicated to sponsoring academic scholarships and grants to aspiring Caribbean and CARICOM maritime professionals and seafarers.  The Foundation partners with five academic institutions within the CARICOM: Caribbean Maritime University in Jamaica; LJM Maritime Academy in The Bahamas;

MatPal Marine Institute and Atlantic Alliance Maritime and Off-Shore Training Institute both in Guyana; and the University of Trinidad and Tobago.  Our scholars and grantees hail from

Jamaica, Guyana, The Bahamas, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic, Suriname, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Grenada.  The ACMF has donated dozens of laptops to help students study remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic; funded emergency grants to students at risk of dropping out due to loss of family income during the pandemic; created an online jobs board (www.acmfcarex.com); and helped build a 100-person capacity Lecture Hall.

The ACMF also hosts an annual Caribbean regionwide webinar, the Maritime Link-Up Webinar, in partnership with CARICOM, attended by hundreds of students to promote maritime careers. Under the leadership of Rick Murrell, President and CEO of Saltchuk, the ACMF’s sea-time initiative for cadets, identifies and funds internship opportunities on vessels to enable cadets to achieve the last bit of training necessary before they can take up permanent jobs at sea.  The ACMF Anchor Awards, held annually celebrates the leadership of the shipping industry stalwarts.

 

Contact: Geneive Brown Metzger, LLD Hon., President

E-mail: executivedirector@acmfdn.org

Website: www.acmfdn.org

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Bahamas News

UB Art and Music Students to Benefit from a $100K Scholarship Award Established by Cordell Broadus Jr. and the Tezos Foundation

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Nassau, THE BAHAMAS — Nearly one year ago, Cordell Broadus, son of legendary American rapper Snoop Dogg, stood before hundreds of University of The Bahamas (UB) freshmen and declared his interest in financially supporting the talented artists and musicians among them. Some seven months later, Mr. Broadus made good on that promise by generously donating $100,000 to the University to support the creative arts at UB. 

On Thursday, 7th March, UB executed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mr. Broadus a.k.a “Champ Medici” and the Tezos Foundation in the RBC Auditorium of the Franklyn Wilson Graduate Centre for the establishment of the Champ Medici Arts Fund (CMAF) Scholarship Award. The CMAF is a $1 million philanthropic effort in partnership with the Tezos Foundation to support emerging and legacy musicians and artists across the globe who are seeking to build and create new creative and cultural works on the Tezos blockchain.

A two-part gift, the CMAF Scholarship will donate a monetary prize to be allocated to UB students participating in a competition which will showcase their non-fungible tokens (NFT) projects. The CMAF and the Tezos Foundation will offer educational tutorials, materials and guidance on how to use the Tezos blockchain to mint, market and sell their works. 

The second part of the gift will be used to purchase the technology and relevant equipment and supplies for the students so that they can further pursue digital art and music initiatives within the University’s curriculum and in the future.

“This just really came from the bottom of my heart,” said Mr. Broadus. “My first time outside of America was to The Bahamas with my grandma and my great-grandma, who are both no longer here. So, just coming down here has always been inspiring, obviously beautiful, as the country has a very rich culture. You guys have intelligent students, and I just wanted to be representative and show that you don’t have to play sports and make music to become successful, but you can have ownership and your own narrative and do things you want to do. So, that’s what I’m trying to strive to do.”

UB President Janyne Hodder said the University is extremely grateful for the kind gesture, which came at a time when UB is seeking to better itself and foster a culture of continuous improvement in academia via the pursuit of local and international accreditation, as well as celebrate 50 years of continuous operations in service to the nation. The $100K gift by CMAF and the Tezos Foundation will only augment those pursuits. 

“We are grateful for the vision of those at Champ Medici Arts Fund and the Tezos Foundation, Mr. Cordell Broadus and others, for making this investment in students of University of The Bahamas and for recognizing the potential of our talented students,” said President Hodder in her remarks. 

Mr. Broadus had an opportunity to speak to students at UB’s 2023 Fall Freshman Orientation, where he indicated: “We also have a fund where we give back money to minority artists who create music, who create art, and at some point, I would like to pick one of you guys to donate that money to in this room, whoever is a talented artist and a talented musician, let me know.”

Fast-forward to Thursday’s MOU signing, Dr. Douglas Barkey, Dean of UB’s College of Liberal and Fine Arts, praised Mr. Broadus for being a man of his word in partnering with the University. 

“We get a lot of visitors here, we see quite a few because of who we are and where we are, and we’re happy to receive them,” said Dr. Barkey. “They are all inspired by the creativity they see among our students and faculty, our young musicians, emerging artists, and they leave with the intention to help out in some way. We’re used to not hearing back. But that is not the case today. The Champ Medici Foundation for the Arts and the Tezos Foundation have come together to truly give back to the Bahamian community of emerging creative professionals in a very innovative manner through this gift.” 

Mr. Dino Hernandez, UB’s Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Alumni Affairs, praised the new partnership for granting talented artists at UB the opportunity unlock their creative musical and artistic talents. 

“We truly appreciate the partnership with CMAF and Tezos Foundation for the establishment of this $100,000 award, which I’m sure Dean of Liberal and Fine Arts Douglas Barkey and the exceptional music faculty are deeply appreciative of,” said VP Hernandez. “Providing our students with access to state-of-the-art digital equipment, educational tutorials, and mentorship, also will go a long way in teaching and training our students, many of whom are fantastic musicians and artists.” 

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