The Omololu International School, the only non-public primary school on the island, reopened its doors for classes on Monday, September 7th — like all other local schools — following the brief summer vacation. Omololu School places much emphasis on its Visual Arts curriculum through lessons taught by its proficient and dedicated Visual Arts Teacher, Mrs. Collete Jones-Chin.
Word reaching The Anguillian recently is that three of the school’s Visual Arts students were chosen as competitors in an art contest facilitated by Relaciones Exteriores IME, an art institute in Mexico. According to Mrs. Jones-Chin, she entered the art work of seven of her students — in the Latin American competition — and, fortunately, three of them were chosen from hundreds of students to compete in the international event.
Mrs. Jones Chin explained how she got her students involved in the high level competition: “During our COVID-19 lockdown season, I saw the competition being advertised online, and I thought that I would enter some of my students. So, I began working with 15 of them, but by the deadline date only 7 were able to complete their work at an acceptable standard. The 7 who eventually entered were Mya Lake , Eliana Guzman, Jane Kim, Kieron Edwards, Joseph Manasariphan , Nikhil Chhatlani and Dishita Chhatlani. The directors of the institute in Mexico were elated to have us participate. They noted that they had never heard of Anguilla before, and initially they thought that we were from Angola.”
Speaking with a high degree of enthusiasm, she revealed the three who were chosen: “I was extremely gratified to learn that three of the seven who entered were selected, and shortlisted, out of hundreds of other students around the world. In our region, five students were chosen, and out of this five, three are from Anguilla. The chosen three are Dishita Chhatlani, in the 6 to 9-year-old category; Nikhil Chhatlani, in the 10 to 12-year-old category; and Joseph Manasariphan, in the 12 to 14-year-old category.”
A correspondence to Mrs. Jones-Chin from Relaciones Exteriores IME stated: “Of the five names we sent to you, three of them are your students, namely Dishita Chhatlani – Peacock Power, Nikhil Chhatlani – The Octophant and Joseph Manasariphan – Emotions on Fire. These five drawings from your region will be considered for the second phase of the contest. Judges in Mexico will consider all drawings sent, and a total of 12 will selected for our 2021 calendar. From September 14th to 18th, the public will have the opportunity to vote on our IME Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/IMEsremx. It is very important that you invite all your friends and the people of Anguilla to follow the contest through Facebook so that they can vote.”
Obviously overwhelmed with delight, Mrs. Jones-Chin further stated: “I am so happy that I took on the challenge and encouraged our students to take part. I am proud of them all, as usual, and I encourage them to continue creating. I thank their parents, too, for believing in me and entrusting me with their children. I also thank the Principal and Admin of Omololu for their continued support.”
The Anguillian applauds Mrs. Jones-Chin and her students for their accomplishments, and hopes that they will win places for Relaciones Exteriores IME’s 2021 calendar.
– Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
