Island View has been adjudged the 2022 winners of the Junior Achievement Turks and Caicos Islands (JATCI) Company Programme held at Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort and Spa.

Island View, which is made up of students who attend the Edward Gartland Youth Centre on Providenciales, came out ahead of BluExcursion from Wesley Methodist High School on Providenciales and Green Boss Custos from the Louise Garland Thomas High School also on Providenciales.
Island View, which is a digital application – and interactive map – designed to help you find local restaurants and other spots of interest, was also voted to have the best business strategy, best use of social media and best presentation.
Green Boss Custos was adjudged to be the most profitable, while Ever Green of the Raymond Gardiner High School on North Caicos, which manufactures hand sanitizer dispensers, was voted Most Innovative. Accesshellories of the Maranatha Academy on Providenciales, which designs shell jewelry and accessories, received honourable mention.
Angela Musgrove, Chair of the Junior Achievement Board of Directors said she was delighted with the level of enthusiasm that the budding business individuals showed throughout the period.
“We ran it for 12 weeks for secondary schools, where the students were to set-up a business and run that business. They were guided by advisors from the corporate sector, as well as teachers within their respective schools,” Musgrove explained.
She added: “We had eight participating corporate sponsors, who volunteered the time of their staff to work with the students through the process. Today (Saturday, February 5), they make the final presentation of what was done throughout the period.
“In early December they would have had the initial showing of their product, and from that time to present, they have been doing sales of that product, and today, they would have presented their final reports.”
She said the event, classified as the Flagship of the Junior Achievement Programme, was suspended for two years during which it underwent some changes regional-wide and internationally.
“We introduced the programme this year, and we are excited about it. It is one programme that allows students to immerse themselves into the business world, and the learning experiences from this programme are innumerable.
“From what we saw at the presentation I was really overwhelmed. It is an overwhelming feeling for me to see the learning experiences…to see how steep the learning curve is. The learning curve for them was making the learning experience more memorable. So, for them, it moved beyond making a profit to ‘how much I can grow and develop from this process itself,” she said.
She added: “The innovativeness is what I was also proud of, and in terms of their ability to look into the market and see where there were some gaps in terms of meeting market demand. And they were able to design a product or a service in some cases, to meet those market demands.
“It showed me how observant they are and how and how responsive they can be, to recognize within their community those opportunities and then to able to quickly adapt”
She said 62 students actively engaged in this programme this year from an enrollment of 80.
“Next year I would like to see that number doubled. We have hundreds of students in our secondary schools,” Musgrove argued.

She said the programme not only developed the students’ entrepreneurial skills but also their employability skills.
“It also develops your financial literacy skills. We cannot underestimate the number of things our students learn from the experience. I would like to see every secondary student go through this programme at some stage in their secondary career…that’s my long term goal…for the Junior Achievement Programme to touch the lives of every student in our secondary school system,” she said.
Five schools from Providenciales – Maranatha, two groups from Louise Garland Thomas, Clement Howell, Wesley Methodist and the Edward Gartland Youth Centre took part. Other schools were Marjorie Basden from South Caicos and Raymond Gardiner High from North Caicos.
Musgrove is also hoping that next time the event is held, there would be participation from the HJ Robinson High in Grand Turk, as well as from Private Schools across the country. She said for that to take place, greater corporate sponsorship would be needed to assist with mentorship and financial support.
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