PHILIPSBURG:--- Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunrise hosted "Shine like the Stars in the Universe" Day Camp. The camp was geared toward girls' ages 12-18 years of age. The topics that were presented were Communication, Fitness & Nutrition, Leadership, Culture, Etiquette and Fashion.
The girls were welcomed by Camp Facilitator Keysy Ramirez. President Virginia Asin opened the event by emphasizing the Rotary's mission to empower and build confidence in today's youth. President Asin was then joined by Rachel Doorson for the invocation.
The event started with the communication topic "The Art of Conversation". It was presented by Rotarian Okama Ekpe Brook. She presented the topic by first having the girls introduce themselves to each other and continued the discussion on the importance of communication and the different types of communication. She used this opportunity to demonstrate communication by talking about the current National Development Plan and shared some questions to discuss in open conversation to get input and feedback on the plan.
The fitness and nutrition segment was headed by the visiting Vocational Training Team from Niagara, Ontario, Canada. The girls were led in a fitness routine and were given the opportunity to lead the routine as well. The instructor was very encouraging to the girls and even encourage them to not be afraid to lead even if they were nervous or might make a mistake.
The leadership portion was of the camp was given by Micaela Hart, President of the Rotaract Club. Ms. Hart gave a presentation of what it means to be a leader. She explained that being a leader was a lot of responsibility and was hard at times, but can also be rewarding.
The girls also learned about St. Maarten culture with a spirited and lively presentation by Rotarian Marcellia Henry in her capacity as Secretary General of UNESCO. Ms. Henry gave examples of the intangible and tangible objects that made up St. Maarten culture. She stressed the need for the young ladies to know about their culture so that it may be passed on to future generations. In addition she suggested books on St. Maarten's culture like "The National Symbols of St. Maarten" by Lasana Sekou, which is available at the Philipsburg Jubilee Library.
Lastly, Francis Mathew professionally known as Mr. Fierce the Catwalk Professor gave a presentation on Etiquette & Fashion. He discussed the art of being a lady. He demonstrated how to walk, talk, sit, communicate, make friends and start a conversation. This was done very interactively by giving scenarios of a meeting and having the girls do impromptu role play. He instructed the young ladies how to eat and drink. He had each girl one by one demonstrate how they eat with a knife and fork and use their napkins. He taught them how to pour from a bottle into a glass and stressed the fact that ladies don't drink from a bottle. Demonstrating how a lady should pick up something from the floor brought much laughter to the group.
The girls also received a dress and t shirts per group and some decorating material. They had 15 minutes to come up with a fantastic design; dress a group member to model it and also present it to the audience during the fashion show. After which the girls rocked the catwalk.
At the closing awards were given to Best Catwalk, Ms Congeniality and Ms Leadership. The girls had a fun but informative day.
President Virginia Asin was pleased with the turnout and would like to thank all the presenters and Paula Gordon and her associates for partnering with them on this initiative and looks forward to next year's camp.
Rotary Sunrise meets at Philipsburg Jubilee Library Conference Room every Tuesday mornings at 7:00am for fellowship and breakfast. For more information on the club visit us at sxmsunrise.org or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., we are also on Facebook: Rotary Club of Saint Martin Sunrise