Youths awarded in BTB-FCCA poster and essay competition

Reuse, Recycle and Renew are environmental issues that are well-known in Belize, but it was also the theme that participants expounded on in this year’s Florida Caribbean Cruise Association’s poster and essay competitions. There were hundreds of entries from the Caribbean and Belizean students placed well. Janae Rodriguez captured the first prize in the junior division for the essay competition, winning an opportunity to travel to Puerto Rico at the end of the month to collect her cash prize. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.

Duane Moody, Reporting

This morning, the Belize Tourism Board held a ceremony to award the representatives and winners of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association’s annual poster and essay competitions. This year, the Poster Competition was held under the theme, “Reuse, Recycle and Renew”—in an effort to bring about environmental awareness in primary schools across the twenty-one countries linked to the FCCA. Belize made thirty-five entries in the poster competition.

Manuel Heredia Jr., Minister of Tourism

Manuel Heredia Jr.

“This is being done in conjunction with the cruise industry to show awareness and to bring that culture to Belize that we need to conserve, we need to be oriented into making sure that Belize can be a destination where people can be proud to say we went to Belize, we went to the islands, we went to the archeological sites and everywhere that we visit and it is looking so beautiful and clean. And B.T.B. has always believed and I particularly believe that you the young children are the future for tomorrow.”

Noriko Gamero, Director of Destination Planning & Cruise, B.T.B.

“The awareness is important for the sustainability of our industry. And we want to make sure that from very young they know how they can recycle, reuse items and they can renew the industry. The posters very well reflected this and we are happy to show the posters later today.”

Daniel Peraza, of Holy Angels R.C. School in Pomona, placed third overall in the junior division of the poster competition. He and his school received two thousand Belize dollars each.

Daniel Peraza

Daniel Peraza, 3rd Place Winner, Poster Competition

“I’m very proud and excited about this prize and I am looking to next year’s challenge. Basically the poster that we did, the topic was on renew, reuse the Caribbean. And we recycled things to create the poster and we used symbols of each country to represent the countries.”

Seidy Acevedo, Principal, Holy Angels RC School

Seidy Acevedo

“I’m very proud of the journey he is about to embark in.”

There were a total of fifty-eight submissions from Belize alone in the essay competition, which was based on the theme, “If you were a cruise passenger, what would you want to see and do in your destination?” Ryan Smith, of Grace Primary School, represented Belize in the senior division and was awarded two hundred U.S. dollars. But it was Janae Rodriguez of Saint Ann’s Anglican Primary School that placed first overall in the junior division of the essay competition.

Janae Rodriguez

Janae Rodriguez, Junior Winner, Essay Competition

“It feels good because I am not a really happy person but this is something to be happy about. I was like writing about how I was bored in school and I dreamed about how I went to different places like the Community Baboon Sanctuary, I went zip lining, on airboats and cave tubing.”

Andrea Rodriguez, Mother

Andrea Rodriguez

“She won three thousand U.S. dollars as first place. She competed out of twenty-one countries and so she won first place in the junior division and that comes with a trip to Puerto Rico as well where she will be receiving her check then, at the end of the month. And her school also won that same amount, three thousand dollars, so we are very excited that she could also contribute back to her school.”

Duane Moody for News Five.