Photos: 100 Men And Women On Campus

April 3, 2014

Cedarbridge Academy recently played host to motivational speakers in honour of the school’s 100 Men and Women on Campus event, giving students access to positive role models that encouraged them to work toward their idea of success.

A spokesperson said, “While Dwayne and Wayne Caines provided a list of guidelines to go by in order to achieve success and how to be successful to male students at CedarBridge Academy, the female students were inspired by Joy Barnum, the writer and poet who promotes maintaining individuality and knowing who you are and who your friends are, and knowing your own phenomenal woman.

“Young men and women walked through the doors of CedarBridge Academy dressed in professional attire as they stood before assessors, providing feedback on their clothing to determine which students were the most professionally dressed for the ninth annual 100 Men and Women on Campus day.

“The day began with a fashion show of teachers and students dressed in professional attire. This year, students were provided with an opportunity to network and hear from community partners about their careers.

“Individuals from various industries visited the schools and held workshops with students; health care, hospitality, entrepreneurship, sports, business, information technology, education, arts, law, trades, and construction were the industries represented.

“Several former students also returned to speak in the workshop. Ashjuana Thomas, Gary Pitt, Tristan Daniels, and Kalea Steede represented the hospitality industry, Rikai Binns represented the business industry, Paul Smith, Carlos Trott, Tricray Astwood, and Shonell Woods represented the arts industry, and Phillip Lewis represented the trade/construction industry.

Kordell De’La’Chevotiere, an S4 Student, said that the trade workshop was motivational. “A lot of them [the presenters] went through the same problems I am now going through. Not sure what they wanted and once they found their passion, they stuck with it,” he said. “I am alright at a lot of things, but not stuck on one thing. I can do anything with a bike, but I like business law.”

“The Caines Brothers, the guest speakers for the afternoon, were interesting, I liked them. They were told by teachers that they would not amount to anything. They changed their attitude toward education because they wanted to show people that they could amount to something.”

JD Symonds, Head Boy, Parliamentarian of National Honors Society, and a prefect, agreed with De’LaChevotiere. “They reconfirmed what I have been told all my life. That continues to push me in the right direction.”

Symonds explained that one profound piece of information the Caines Brothers shared were the statistics that showed Bermudians have a predominant failure rate of success in Bermuda, and that is something that needs to change.”

Symonds, who is interested marine science, attended the trades workshop and found that the experience was beneficial. “It’s not about the trade, but how to get to where you want to be.”

Elisha Bailey-Lewis, S4 Treasurer for National Honour Society, and a prefect, attended the law and education workshop with Theo Dill, Deon Greene, and Patricia Chapman. “I did not expect this workshop would cater to my career choice – I want to be a forensic pathologist – but it helped me not only in my career choice, but how showed how everything ties in.”

“Ms. Bailey-Lewis explained that she learned about roles that she had never heard of, including a job called social imaginist, someone who analyzes things that might happen in the future.

One speaker discussed decriminalizing debt so that it does not impact one’s future. “Since they were all different people with different career backgrounds, I learned that one has to learn how to adapt to one’s environment.”

“Being a phenomenal woman is being yourself,” said Dayjah Williams, S4, who attended the all-female assembly. “Being yourself, being strong, not worrying about what people say about you.”

Ms. Williams explained that was the message from Ms. Barnum, who talked about not following other people in how they dress and how they look, but from your heart.

“It is a struggle in high school, finding yourself,” Ms. Williams said. “Because everyone wants to follow the trend. It is hard to be yourself as a high school student, because most of the times when you are yourself, you are pointed out as being weird.”

Ms. Barnum’s rendition of “Who You Are” brought tears to the eyes of many students.

Mr. Bean, who began 100 Men on Campus in 2004-2005, explained that, based upon working with young people, he found that there was a distorted perception of black men, in particular, and their roles. His purpose was to promote men, in particular positive black men.

“BET and television portray us in a different light and it is not always positive,” he said.

“When he introduced this concept, the aim was to show both male and female students that there are positive men in the community and not just the ones who are in the papers for negative things. “Lots of men do positive things. It has evolved to beyond not just fathers, but the professional male, and there is no distinction in colour – if you are a positive man, you are invited to participate.”

“Ms. Alicia Zuill, was getting calls from businesses looking to hire students, wanted to help put things in place to prepare students. 100 Women grew out of this, from the aspect of inviting positive men and women on campus.

“It evolved and what began as a method to highlight fathers and father figures in a positive role became an opportunity to expose young men and women to the opportunities that exist in Bermuda and beyond. 100 Women on Campus came about as a result of businesses wanting to network with the school to provide information on etiquette and work ethic.

“Over 200 men and women signed in to participate in 100 Men and Women on Campus this year.”

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