SSSD launches School Earthquake Poster and Jingle Competition

Philipsburg - The Student Support Services Division (SSSD) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport is rolling out its School Earthquake awareness poster and Jingle competition as part of its overarching School Earthquake Awareness campaign.

The competitions are open to all students at schools on Dutch St Maarten participating in MECYS school safety program. The Poster Competition is geared towards students of Cycle 2 of elementary schools and the Jingle Competition is for secondary school students. These competitions will showcase the creativity and artistic expression of our islands talented youth, while highlighting the importance of earthquake preparedness. Students in Cycle 2 can register to join the poster competition with their Safety and Emergency Team (SET) chairperson.

Students at secondary schools can register for the jingle competition by contacting schoolsafety@sintmaartengov.org.

The program’s goal is to inform the school community and improve preparedness and response. The School Earthquake Awareness program is part of SSSD’s school safety initiatives and was created in 2020 by SSSD’s manager Olga Mussington-Service who is also the School Safety Focal Point for St. Maarten.

Students can view flyers and criteria from their SET chairpersons and flyers can also be found on the SSSD Facebook page @facebook.com/sssdsxm. For more information you can contact SSSD at (721)543-1235.

The Student Support Services Division (SSSD) provides services to students referred by schools. These services consist of psychological services, counseling services, social work services, speech language pathology services and educational diagnostic services. SSSD also provides crisis response services to schools, career services to students, parent support groups and parent information sessions.