The Hotel Four Seasons came alive recently with the awards ceremony for the Jamaica Independence T-Shirt Design Competition for secondary school students.

The competition, which is in its inaugural year and was endorsed by the Ministry of Education and the Jamaica 50 Secretariat, received entries from students attending various secondary schools across the island. It gave more than $200,000 worth of cash and prizes to the top contestants and has, to date, raised $135,000 for secondary level students scholarships (a figure which continues to increase as the year goes by).

At the ceremony, Wolmer's Boys stood tall, claiming the Most Outstanding School award and producing the overall winner Tariq Smith.

Second place went to Anthony Cookes, who was also a Wolmer's student at the time he entered. He now he attends the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. Third place was claimed by Jahvon Barrett of Calabar High School, fourth went to Deneika Smith of Shortwood Practising Primary and Junior High School, and fifth was Jahneve Jackson of Holy Childhood High School.

Dr Grace Munroe, a representative from the Ministry of Education told the audience that the ministry stands behind and beside the t-shirt design competition, because through encouraging creative students, the contest helps Jamaica prepare for a future in which the economy will need to be increasingly characterised by artistry, creativity and innovation in order remain competitive.

Marc Morgan, owner of the Zedrin clothing line (the primary organiser and sponsor of the contest), said "the contest has been a resounding success and my mind is blown away by the creative talent residing in Jamaica". Morgan praised Lithographic Printers for contributing to the developmental component of the contest.

Lithographic Printers came on board as a sponsor of the contest and gave the top contestants insight into the screen printing process for shirts with a detailed and personalised tour of the company's state of the art facilitates. Other sponsors included Great Huts, Sunset on the Beach, Carby's Craft Village, Models & Talent Jamaica, Birdimus Designs, Bagawiya Designs, Portmore Medical Centre and Genas Photography.

One of the most memorable moments of the ceremony was when attorney-at-law Andrea Scarlett-Lozar, founder of The Graduates Foundation, thanked Zedrin for using proceeds from the contest to fund a $75,000 academic scholarship for a student to attend sixth form at Jamaica College. Scarlett-Lozar praised Zedrin for stepping up to the plate and appealed to corporate Jamaica to step in and partner with the Graduates Foundation to fund other academic scholarships for students in need of support.

At the close of the ceremony it was announced that a documentary covering the competition will be released and the public was reminded that the t-shirts designed by the top contestants remain available for purchase at Carby's Craft Village and other outlets.