(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) St Kitts and Nevis has established its dominance at the Zonal Round of the CARICOM Regional Quiz Competition held this 13 June 2008, at the Anglican Pastoral Centre in St Vincent and the Grenadines, by not only beating both Guyana and Montserrat to hold on the other spot in the Semi-Finals of the quiz but also earning the highest scores in the first Zonal Round.
The Team, comprising Yunoka Flemming, Kalea Clarke, Latoya Claxton and Rademis Tyson (Reserve) played its first match in the competition, against Guyana which beat them into second place in the Finals of the competition in 2004 and their second match against Montserrat.
St Kitts and Nevis defeated Guyana with a score of 46 points and later with an astounding 61 points, staved off Montserrat who proved to be an even more formidable opponent than Guyana. The match went into overtime as Montserrat held on, eventually succumbing to a determined St Kitts and Nevis Team.
In the match between Montserrat and Guyana, Montserrat earned 46 points to Guyana’s 38 points but their tally was not enough to beat St Kitts and Nevis who along with Saint Lucia will move to the Semi-Finals in Antigua and Barbuda on 30 June. Both Teams (Saint Lucia and St Kitts and Nevis) have also earned the two trophies donated by Scotia Bank for the teams making it to the Semi-Finals, from Zonal Round One.
St Kitts and Nevis’ Yunokia Flemming from Charlestown Secondary School emerged as the most outstanding player in the second leg of the Zonal competition, amassing a score of 41 in both matches in which she played.
The Team’s chaperone Cornelle Caines noted that the students were “extremely dedicated, self motivated, disciplined, well prepared and will go all the way to the Finals.”
Zonal Round Two of the CARICOM regional Quiz will be held in Trinidad and Tobago on 17 -18 June after which four teams will advance to the Semi –Finals in Antigua and Barbuda on 30 June. The winning team will be presented to the Conference of Heads of Government on July 1 at the Opening Ceremony.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, of Zonal Round One, Mrs Susan Dougal, Chief Education Officer, St Vincent and the Grenadines, thanked the CARICOM Secretariat for what she described as a “job well done” in organizing the competition and also opined that based on the performance of the students, “the future of the Caribbean Community is in good hands.”
Special Adviser in the Office of the Secretary-General, CARICOM Secretariat, Ms Marilyne Trotz, who made the presentation of certificates and trophies to the students noted that the standard of this year’s Zonal Round was remarkably high and encouraged Saint Lucia and St Kitts and Nevis to maintain this standard in the Semi-Finals.
Sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) the CARICOM Regional Quiz Competition 2008 is organized for students of middle grades in secondary schools and is aimed at further increasing their knowledge about the Caribbean Community and the Integration movement.
Twelve Member States – Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago – are participating in this year’s competition.
