NASSAU, The Bahamas --- An all boys trio from the Southeastern Division Summer Youth Camp won the General Knowledge Competition held as part of the annual Royal Bahamas Police Force Summer Youth Programme. The competition took place Thursday, August 2 on the grounds of Evangelistic Temple, Collins Avenue.

The Southeastern team comprised Jarret Bain, Dominique Brown and Jarette Stubbs. They accumulated 60 points to out-duel teams from the Western Division (50 points) and the Northeastern Division who finished third with 40 points.

“I am so proud of these boys because today proves that if we work closely with our young men, that we can have the positive results that we so much desire,” Inspector Chrislyn Skippings, Officer-in-Charge of the Force’s Summer Youth Programme, said. “These young men went through three rounds of competition and won every round. Hats off to them. Hats off to the Commander of the Southeastern Division (Superintendent Clayton Fernander) as I know he is going to be all excited because he too is an advocate for young men.”

Inspector Skippings said the General Knowledge Competition is in keeping with Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade’s 2012 Policing Plan that speaks to positive youth engagement through social, sporting and educational opportunities. Campers between the ages of 8-17 were eligible to participate in the General Knowledge Competition in teams of three. Participating teams included the Urban Renewal Combined Band, and the Central, Southwestern, Southeastern, South Central, Western, Southern, Eastern and Northeastern Divisions.  There were five categories to the competition: Tourism, Geography, Our Resources, Fisheries and Bahamian history.

Inspector Skippings said preparation for, and participation in the General Knowledge Competition, should go a long way in helping to prepare many of the participants for the upcoming G.L.A.T. and B.J.C. Examinations.

“This year signalled the first time we have taken this approach where we actually partnered with officials from the Ministry of Education to host this type of academic competition,” Inspector Skippings said. “As it turned out, this really was a powerful tool in helping the students who will be taking their G.L.A.T. and B.J.C. Exams due to the preparation time they ha to spend getting ready for this competition. Next year is going to be even bigger and better because we are going to review those areas where kids have a deficiency and use the Police Summer programme not only as a means of fun, but to cover some of their deficiencies at the same time,” Inspector Skippings added.

Chief Judge Mrs. Janet Francis, a Senior Mistress in the Public School System, applauded the participants for their “outstanding work” in preparing for the Competition.

“We need to provide as many opportunities as we can to keep the children focused, to keep them current based on things that are happening in the country, and to keep them out of trouble during the summer break.  The Summer Youth Programme is very important because it also provides much-needed structure for the kids participating in the various camps and I would like to thank the Royal Bahamas Police Force for the work they have done, and continue to do, with our kids through the Summer Youth Programme and all of the other youth programmes that they manage. The introduction of the General Knowledge Competition was an outstanding idea and we look forward to continuing to work with the Police as they work to build the educational capacity of our children,” Mrs. Francis added.