St Lucia Photographer Challenges Students To Dare To Dream
PRESS RELEASE
St Lucia Photographer Kirk Elliott Launches “Dare To Dream“
Photo/Essay Competition at Corinth Secondary School
Iconic St Lucia Photographer Kirk Elliott has launched a Photo/Essay Competition at the Corinth Secondary School under the theme “Dare To Dream”. The competition which is open to Form V students invites them to pen their biggest dream of what they would like to be when they grow up and to state how realizing this big dream can make St Lucia a better place.
The students were also invited to submit a picture showcasing their favourite place in St Lucia and to write a 100 word explanation of why this is their favourite place.
“I recently went through an exercise of hiring a group of young persons for a project and was shocked by their “un-work-worthiness” and this really bothered me” Elliott commented in explaining what motivated him to launch this competition. When asked what he believes is responsible for this problem that so many Saint Lucian employers complain about, an impassioned Elliott responded: “I believe that the system has failed the youth and we adults are too quick to blame them for their wrongs rather than asking – what contributed to them going astray and what can we the adults do to address the problem.”
When asked what would they like to be when they grow up, a group of school children recently responded as follows: one wanted to be a policeman, another a teacher and yet another wanted to be a psychologist, however one boy said that he wanted to be a drug dealer and needless to say the group of students couldn’t stifle their giggles. Yet another group of teenage boys in a classroom setting, when asked why they were so unmotivated about work one boy responded “Sir what’s the point when the only place for us is the cemetery or the jailhouse.”
Spend some time with the youth and you quickly realize that despite their disconnect with the adult society they are not only intelligent, but also acutely aware of the fact that the system has failed them.
Elliott explains that he looks forward to reading the biggest dreams of the Corinth Secondary School students and asks all of St Lucia to start asking “what can I do to ensure that our youth don’t see that becoming a drug dealer – or worse, is their only way out.“
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St Lucia Photographer Kirk Elliott holds a Double Major Bachelor of Science degree in Geology & Chemistry having won a scholarship to work on Saint Lucia’s geothermal project. Having found no work on completion of his studies Elliott pursued his passion of photography and has never stopped dreaming since. He encourages people to dream awake, especially when faced with challenges as our greatest accomplishments are often just a dream away.
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What are your thoughts on the lack of opportunity for our youth?
What do you think will happen if this problem is not addressed?
What do you think is a way to fix this problem?
Post your comments below…