Cul de Sac, Sint Maarten — St. Maarten Academy Key Clubbers on Saturday completed its final and signature project for the 2024-2025 academic year entitled: “Bin the Waste—Keep our Shorelines Great”.
The Academy scholars, together with their juniors in Builders Club, fulfilled the final aspect of their project, which aims to promote the cleanliness of our island, while at the same time, joining with other Key Clubbers around the world to celebrate 100 years of being the largest global student-led high school service organization.
In recognition of this milestone, the Phase 1 of the project which commenced in September 2024, focused on beautifying the Little Bay Beach with a sunset mural and signage that remind beach-goers to leave the beaches in pristine condition. Phase 2, on the other hand, emphasized the placement of waste receptacles at strategic locations where there was a noticeable build-up of trash.
The work on Saturday last saw the deployment of three 42-gallon trash cans at the Bush Road bus stops near KFC and at the popular Bell’s Look-out point in Cole Bay.
At the brief ribbon cutting ceremony, various club leaders reflected on the contribution of key project partners who collaborated with the young leaders of St. Maarten to promote a cleaner, greener, waste-free environment. President Ambreanne Brooks in her presentation acknowledged the critical role of the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI) in ensuring the success of this service project.
“Without the approval of Honourable Minister Patrice Gumbs and the diligence of Ms. Barbra Webster [Contract Manager-VROMI] who served as liaison and facilitated our many requests for physical support, our project would have remained a pipe dream,” stated Brooks.
Academy’s Head Girl and Key Club Division 4 Lieutenant Governor, Sabéa Nanton, also expressed the club’s gratitude for the generous support received from ACE Hardware, while Vice President of Builders Club, Jehanna Persaud, thanked representatives from Motorworld Group of Companies for their unwavering partnership with the service clubs at St. Maarten Academy. Key Club secretary, Sabrina Gopaul thanked local artist and St. Maarten Academy alumna, Bernica Michel, for her guidance and support with designing and painting of the mural at Little Bay.
Vice Principal and Club Faculty Advisor, Joanna Trim remarked: “The future of our island is in good standing when our leaders in government, civil service, and the private sector actively demonstrate their commitment to the youth of St. Maarten by being supportive of the efforts of young leaders of service organizations who wish to contribute positively to its development”
Trim said it is through such partnerships that young people get to recognize their voice and feel welcomed at the table of discussion regarding the socio-economic development of Sint Maarten and the world at large.
The “Bin the Waste – Keep our Shorelines Great” project is now complete, but Key Clubbers have only just begun their celebration of Key Club International centennial anniversary – a milestone achieved on March 23, 2025.
Vice Principal Trim commented: “With the approval of our project proposal for a Youth Opportunity Fund grant from Key Club International in April 2024, our task to successfully implement the just-concluded project started. Today, one year later, we are proud that our project culminated with this significant milestone. I firmly believe that all service and no fun dulls a leader’s vision, so I extend a special thank you to all our corporate leaders who have pledged their support to ensure that 16 students of St. Maarten Academy Key Club will be attending the Key Club International Convention being held at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista at Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida, U.S. A. from July 2-6, 2025. Your support guarantees that our young leaders will join their counterparts around the world to exchange ideas on future projects and celebrate their accomplishments as today’s leaders–tomorrow’s world changers.”
