Larouche Morley, Cataina Basden, Jernae Darville and Jorden Freemantle emerged as the winners of the Ride To Save The Wetlands program - the Sandals Foundation's first Save The Wetlands poster competition.
Ride To Save The Wetlands was funded by the Sandals Foundation and has seen close to 5,000 children visit Bonefish Pond National Park over a two-year period. The visits are geared toward getting the kids to experience and learn about the mangrove ecosystem first-hand to get an understanding of what the wetlands are, along with the importance of The Bahamas' mangroves and why they need to be protected.
Participants have prepared and entered posters about what they learned into the wetland protection competition. Many of the posters in the competition portrayed the difference between a healthy mangrove area and a polluted mangrove area, and illustrated the destruction the fragile areas could undergo if not taken care of.
Morley, a student at St. Cecilia's Primary School, emerged the winner in the grades one and two category; Cataina Basden of St. Thomas More was the winner in the third grade category. Xavier's Lower School's Jernae Darville took home the prize for the grades four and five category. Jorden Freemantle took home the grade six category win. Each winner took home a $400 gift certificate to Buy the Book bookstore.
"These kids communicated beautifully in their posters the reasons we need to respect these ecosystems," said Chester Robards, Sandals Foundation spokesperson. "Some of these posters were so beautifully done, they could be used in a national campaign. Many of the posters took on a simple, but important message."
For the past two years the Sandals Foundation and Experiential Education, through Ride to Save the Wetlands, has made it possible for children in primary and secondary schools to learn about the importance of the wetlands to the environment.
"We are grateful to the foundation for providing assistance so that this program remains at an affordable price for the participants," said Aretha Rolle, a spokesperson for Experiential Education. "Experiential Education is also indebted to the Young Marine Explorers, a group of young budding marine biologists under the leadership of Nikita Sheil-Rolle, for leading the exploration into the wetlands of Bonefish Pond. And finally, we thank the government of The Bahamas for empowering The Bahamas National Trust to develop programs that protect wetland areas."
Judging the competition were Olivia Saunders, lecturer at The College of The Bahamas; Pamela Chandler, senior education officer of arts and designs at the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology and Louise Barry, senior education officer of high school science at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Grades 1 & 2 category
First place: Larouche Morley
St. Cecilia's Primary School
$400 gift certificate at Buy the Book
Second place: Caleb Ferguson
Xavier's Lower School
$200 gift certificate at Buy the Book
Grade 3 category
First place: Cataina Basden
St. Thomas More School
$400 gift certificate at Buy the Book
Second place: Darion Smith
St. Thomas More School
$200 gift certificate at Buy the Book
Third place: Tyrese Higgs
St. Thomas More School
$100 gift certificate at Buy the Book
Grades 4 & 5 category
First place: Jernae Darville
Xavier's Lower School
$400 gift certificate at Buy the Book
Second place: Jania J. Key
St. Thomas More
$200 gift certificate at Buy the Book
Third place: Terrance Knowles
St. Cecilia's School
$100 gift certificate at Buy the Book
Grade 6 category
First place: Jorden Freemantle
Xavier's Lower School
$400 gift certificate at Buy the Book
Second place:
combined group
Ashanti Miller
Najah Martin
Drexel Curry
Juvado Hilaire
Lamar Thompson
Gerald Cash Primary School
$200 gift certificate at Buy the Book
Third place: Keilan McSweeny
Sts. Francis and Joseph School
$100 gift certificate at Buy the Book

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