By Samantha Simon
Jhazzair Whyte emerged as the overall winner of Antigua and Barbuda’s 2024 Summer Writing Challenge with a compelling piece about balancing sports and academics.
The winning entry explored the challenges of being a student athlete, emphasizing the importance of education alongside athletic pursuits.
“His piece was very moving and very timely,” remarked Minister of Education, Daryll Matthew. “He spoke about being a student athlete, wanting to play football, but recognising that the word ‘student’ comes first in student athlete. You could almost hear his emotion as he wrote about his passion for football and the recognition that he needed to do well in school to reach his dreams.”
The competition, now in its third year, has seen remarkable growth, with entries increasing from 40 in its inaugural year to 136 this year.
Students aged 6-18 submitted works across various formats including prose, poetry, and lyrics, addressing themes such as Infrastructure, Volunteerism, Man and Animals, Mental Health, and Sports.
Winners were selected across three age categories: 6-9 years: Khor Johnson (Newfield Primary) – Theme: Mental Health; 10-13 years: Shakier Thomas (Antigua Grammar School) – Theme: Mental Health; 14-18 years: Jhazzair Whyte – Theme: Sports
Second and third place winners included Salem and Olivia Michael in the youngest category; Micah Thomas and Victoria Skepple in the middle category; and Jada Blair and Destiny Defreitas in the senior category.

St Mary’s Secondary School received special recognition for submitting the highest number of entries among participating schools with the teacher being awarded a laptop.
The competition, sponsored by Cheryll Rogers, offers significant prizes including laptops and tablets for winners, with winning entries to be published in Luxury Locations magazine.
“When children are allowed to write freely, you learn so much about them,” said Rogers, who has been involved with the Ministry of Education for five years. “If we can educate the young people, then we can change the future.”
The initiative has received strong support from the Ministry of Education, with officials praising its role in encouraging creative expression outside the traditional classroom environment.
The competition allows students to write during their summer holidays, with submissions due in September and winners announced during the Christmas period.
Local children’s author Samantha Samuel, who served as one of the judges, emphasized the importance of nurturing young writing talent.
“If you have the creative mind and if you really love literature and reading, I’d say go for it because it’s really just up from there.”