Kelleb Laurent Primary School wins Matthew Riviere trophy in EHD Schools Tire Recycling Competition

​The Kelleb Laurent Primary School has won the Matthew Riviere trophy in Environmental Health Department (EHD) schools ‘Tire Recycling Competition’. A prize giving ceremony was held on Thursday 28th June 2017, at the Kelleb Laurent Primary School in St Joseph.
 
As part of efforts to reduce the mosquito population, the Environmental Health Department embarked on an education drive at schools in the St Joseph Health District, out of which, a tire recycling competition was developed, in which the primary schools in that district took part.
 
St. Joseph native Matthew Riviere who is based in St Thomas, donated the Trophy which was won by the Kelleb Laurent Primary School.  The schools’ designs included a book shelf, table and chairs, a sofa, and flower pots made out of tires.
 
During the awards ceremony, Environmental Health Officer Nurse Octavia Dennis said the project was birthed during an environmental health district meeting. She stated, “We decided let’s have a competition with used tires, and we can take it to the schools. So I took it on from there and ran with it, and I addressed every school. I gave them an idea of what we had in mind. We told them that we want them to take used tires and design them into any form”.
 
Nurse Dennis said she was impressed with the projects presented by the participating schools. She said, “Some schools ran a little behind time, they did not get to accomplish everything for ‘judging day’, but they reached thus far, and I’m very impressed with the presentation of the winning school; it was very impressive. I learned a lot from these projects, and I will “pattern on it for my home”.
 
Dennis said this could become an annual project, although there are many other aspects of mosquito control that can be pursued. The paint used by the schools for the project, was donated by Harris Paints.