Members of the Tivoli High School Team celebrate their win in the Creative Thinking Contest put on by the United States Peace Corps Gender and Development Committee. Tivoli won for its board game entry 'Choose a Career'. Brooke Dumain (right), chairwoman and organiser of the contest, shares in the fun. The competition was held last Saturday at the Peace Corps' Worthington Avenue, New Kingston, offices. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer

Sajoune Rose, Gleaner Writer

Elation filled the air. The screams were almost deafening. The joy was evident. They are winners. "I'm so happy. I'm so happy" was the exhilaratingresponse of 15-year-old Jamiela Simpson, a member of the winning team from the Tivoli Gardens High School.

They had just copped the top prize in the United States' Peace Corps' Gender and Development Committee Creative Thinking Contest, which was celebrated under the theme, 'Out of Many, One Game: Invent a unique game that is fun for both boys and girls.' The winning entry was titled 'Choose a career'. The competition was held last Saturday at the Peace Corps' Worthington Avenue office in New Kingston.

Speechless

When she realised they had beaten everybody else, Jamiela jumped, laughed and hugged her teammates.

"We are speechless, we caan express it in words," the girls said in almost a chorus.

Jamiela was happy knowing that her school had triumphed, especially because the stereotypical view of the Tivoli Gardens community in which the school is located is the shadow under which the school and what it produces are seen.

"Tivoli actually made something out of something," said another of the teammates. However, Jamiela was quick to point out that Tivoli always wins competitions but there is one problem. "Of course we win tings before but the way the media portray Tivoli, they use the community to describe the school and the school is nothing like that," she asserted.

Well-rounded children

Chrystal Levy, another teammate, shared similar feelings because she knows that her school can produce well-rounded children. "Not because the school is in the community, they don't have to use the community. My school is a wonderful place, honestly. I'm glad I go to Tivoli because we are good at drama," she said as she interrupts to share her views.

Team adviser, Carol Ross-McCleod is not surprised by the victory. "This group of students, they normally work on their own, which is kinda rare for my school," she says.

The competition is in its eighth year. The choice to involve the creation of a game this year instead of writing an essay or a poem as in previous yearsarose because "it was seen as a fun way to talk about gender and the things that boys liked to play and girls liked, to come up with something that both boys and girls liked to play together," said Brooke Dumain, one of the organisers of the competition. She thought Tivoli did an excellent job.