Prime Minister the Rt Hon Freundel Stuart after presenting the winning trophies and awards to the 2016 St. Michael's Battle of the West Independence Quiz to the Rock Christian School, with teacher Hiruteselassie Yaicob and students Sarah Bisram, Woletta- Israel Yaicob, Tahirah Mann, Naija Lowe and Imani Gaskin.
By:
Janelle Husbands
THERE was an intense battle in the school hall of Ellerslie Secondary yesterday as two teams fought valiantly for the No. 1 spot in the St. Michael's Battle of the West Independence quiz finals.
After going head to head in the first of three rounds, the Rock Christian Primary School secured a comfortable lead and emerged victorious with 257 points over Trinity Academy 197. In the 3rd and 4th place play off, St. Stephen's Primary defeated Deacons Primary.
Member of Parliament for St. Michael North West Chris Sinckler explained that the quiz, which is a combined effort between St. Michael West representative Michael Carrington and St. Michael West Central representative James Paul is a platform that exposes them to things Barbadian, including general knowledge, geography, civics, history and culture to name a few.
“You cant know who you are if you don't know where you are coming from and together working with others where we are going,” he told the group.
Sinckler said it was felt such a competition is a way of introducing students to a higher level educational activity and has been a resounding success. He revealed that programme which is now in its fourth year started with four schools and has grown to nine schools, branching out to include schools in the City of Bridgetown. He said it is hoped that some day all the parishes would be represented at the quiz.
He noted that participants generally go on to do well at the 11 plus examination; some have been recipients of the Lawson Weekes Memorial Scholarship which is sponsored annually by the St. Michael North West Development Foundation while some have even gone on to win national awards.
Sinckler noted some intense moments during the competition and recalled a similar situation unfolded last year when the two teams in the finals were separated by two times. He noted that this level of intensity teaches children how to deal with adversity, learn from disappointment and move forward.
He used the opportunity to thank the teams, their teachers, parents, sponsors and all persons that worked behind the scenes to make the annual quiz a reality. (JH)
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