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Bug off! - Whiz kids to slug out recession with pesticide invention - Brown's Town students top Caribbean competition
Published: Friday | May 1, 2009
Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer
Science teacher Valerie Bailey is flanked by her wonder boys (from left), Reynaldo Hyatt, André Yee Shui, André Hamilton and Kevin Reid. - Photo by Carl Gilchrist
Four 11th-grade students are now a feather in the cap of St Ann. The Brown's Town High quartet, who topped a Caribbean Young Innovators Competition, has used traditional Jamaican 'bush weed' to develop an organic insecticide to kill snails, slugs and other pests.
The four - Reynaldo Hyatt, 16, André Yee Shui, 16, Andre Hamilton, 17, and Kevin Reid, 17 - are all part of the school's Science Club and are ecstatic about their win.
With the Jamaican economy in the pits, Yee Shui is banking on the invention as a recession repellent.
"I wish that this product will help Jamaica economically. I think it's one of the products that can bring us out of the recession. I have high expectations of this," he said. "We used the castor and the 'shame old lady', plants that farmers consider 'pests', to develop the organic molluscide."
Molluscide liquid
He said the students had extracted specific compounds before combining them. They've even developed a powder from the molluscide liquid and are planning to patent and market the product.
The molluscide, a word coined by the team, is also effective against pests, such as moths and cockroaches.
The boys' science teacher and head of the science department, Valerie Bailey, who has been associated with the four since seventh grade, described the bunch as "excellent students, innovative and consistently good workers".
"I wasn't surprised that they won. They were determined to win from the moment they heard of the competition," Bailey explained. "It's not the first, we've been doing this a long time but this is very special."
Despite their victory, the team is yet to show anything for their effort. They did not get a trophy or certificate, Bailey pointed out.
After having been invited by the Scientific Research Council, the team breezed through the local elimination process and proceeded to the regional finals in Trinidad and Tobago on April 2. There they went up against fellow students from four other Caribbean islands - St Vincent, Antigua, Barbados and St Lucia.
The test of mettle was coordinated by the Organisation of American States.
"The competition in Trinidad was a very tough one," said Hamilton. According to him, the judges could hardly believe that they were the developers of the product.
"When we won, I was shocked at first. I'm happy and proud that we won," he stated.
Individual goals
The students are now preparing for the upcoming Caribbean Examinations Council tests, after which they will pursue their individual goals.
Yee Shui, who said he has been doing experiments in his mother's kitchen and creating disasters since he was a kid, told The Gleaner he has hopes of becoming a genetic engineer.
"This is because there are few of them in the world and I wish to make a difference," Yee Shui said.
He hopes to attend the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) and the University of the West Indies.
Hyatt, who has been friends with Yee Shui since basic school, is also heading to CASE as he wants to be a veterinarian surgeon.
Hamilton said he wants to be a pilot and is headed to sixth form at Cornwall College.
Reid said he is heading to Pre-University School at the University of the West Indies school in St Andrew to do the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations.
They will leave behind a legacy that will be a proud one for Brown's Town High School.
"Already the impact has been positive. It has motivated students, many are now asking to be members of the science club," Bailey said.
More importantly, though, Bailey is appealing for help for the bright young minds.
"Those who can help, I want them to get scholarships and they also need help to get the product off the ground, I would appreciate some help for them" she said.
Published: Friday | May 1, 2009
Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer
Science teacher Valerie Bailey is flanked by her wonder boys (from left), Reynaldo Hyatt, André Yee Shui, André Hamilton and Kevin Reid. - Photo by Carl Gilchrist
Four 11th-grade students are now a feather in the cap of St Ann. The Brown's Town High quartet, who topped a Caribbean Young Innovators Competition, has used traditional Jamaican 'bush weed' to develop an organic insecticide to kill snails, slugs and other pests.
The four - Reynaldo Hyatt, 16, André Yee Shui, 16, Andre Hamilton, 17, and Kevin Reid, 17 - are all part of the school's Science Club and are ecstatic about their win.
With the Jamaican economy in the pits, Yee Shui is banking on the invention as a recession repellent.
"I wish that this product will help Jamaica economically. I think it's one of the products that can bring us out of the recession. I have high expectations of this," he said. "We used the castor and the 'shame old lady', plants that farmers consider 'pests', to develop the organic molluscide."
Molluscide liquid
He said the students had extracted specific compounds before combining them. They've even developed a powder from the molluscide liquid and are planning to patent and market the product.
The molluscide, a word coined by the team, is also effective against pests, such as moths and cockroaches.
The boys' science teacher and head of the science department, Valerie Bailey, who has been associated with the four since seventh grade, described the bunch as "excellent students, innovative and consistently good workers".
"I wasn't surprised that they won. They were determined to win from the moment they heard of the competition," Bailey explained. "It's not the first, we've been doing this a long time but this is very special."
Despite their victory, the team is yet to show anything for their effort. They did not get a trophy or certificate, Bailey pointed out.
After having been invited by the Scientific Research Council, the team breezed through the local elimination process and proceeded to the regional finals in Trinidad and Tobago on April 2. There they went up against fellow students from four other Caribbean islands - St Vincent, Antigua, Barbados and St Lucia.
The test of mettle was coordinated by the Organisation of American States.
"The competition in Trinidad was a very tough one," said Hamilton. According to him, the judges could hardly believe that they were the developers of the product.
"When we won, I was shocked at first. I'm happy and proud that we won," he stated.
Individual goals
The students are now preparing for the upcoming Caribbean Examinations Council tests, after which they will pursue their individual goals.
Yee Shui, who said he has been doing experiments in his mother's kitchen and creating disasters since he was a kid, told The Gleaner he has hopes of becoming a genetic engineer.
"This is because there are few of them in the world and I wish to make a difference," Yee Shui said.
He hopes to attend the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) and the University of the West Indies.
Hyatt, who has been friends with Yee Shui since basic school, is also heading to CASE as he wants to be a veterinarian surgeon.
Hamilton said he wants to be a pilot and is headed to sixth form at Cornwall College.
Reid said he is heading to Pre-University School at the University of the West Indies school in St Andrew to do the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations.
They will leave behind a legacy that will be a proud one for Brown's Town High School.
"Already the impact has been positive. It has motivated students, many are now asking to be members of the science club," Bailey said.
More importantly, though, Bailey is appealing for help for the bright young minds.
"Those who can help, I want them to get scholarships and they also need help to get the product off the ground, I would appreciate some help for them" she said.
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