Young Scholars Foundation celebrates 10 years in youth development

Shanese Watson has a deep passion for guiding and supporting others through mentorship. As a student, she saw mentorship as her way to contribute positively to the community by sharing her knowledge and experience with those who are early in their journey.

For over 10 years, Watson, through her Young Scholars Foundation, has been helping others to grow and achieve their goals through mentorship, using her own career progression and lessons learnt to benefit others who are now where she once was.

“I was a mentee for one year, and this kind of support helped me through my years in university. During my second and third year in university, I became a mentor at Papine High School, through the ‘Each One, Reach One’ programme,” Watson said.

“I was able to give guidance and direction to four students during this time. Based on the knowledge I gained, I was motivated to start my own programme to connect with and motivate young people.”

In 2015, Watson officially launched Young Scholars Foundation, to initially assist grades 7 to 10 students who were not performing at their optimum, to remain focused and believe in themselves.

The programme started in St Thomas and included schools at the high and primary levels where students were engaged in leadership and mentorship training sessions. Some of these schools included Seaforth High, Morant Bay High, and St Thomas Technical; and later Morant Bay Primary, Lyssons Primary, Whitehorse’s Primary, Golden Grove Primary, and Port Morant Primary and Junior High.

“We have had mentorship development sessions with over 150 students for St Thomas only. We find out what their objectives are, and why they have lost their zeal and have settled for mediocrity. They highlight the issues that they are having; and we create motivational talks to change and improve their mindset,” Watson said.

“Once the students find passion, there are various opportunities that are available to them that can advance their professional and personal goals. Everyone has an opportunity to learn.”

Over the years, the objectives of the foundation has shifted focus; so instead of concentrating only on student development, Watson and her team have added a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) component.

With the addition of the STEM programme, coding clubs have been established at the Morant Bay High and Kingston Technical High schools, with plans to include Denham Town High and St James High in 2025.

“We extended the programme following a survey that indicated that during the coronavirus pandemic, many students, especially in rural parishes, did not have the ability to handle the use of electronic devices. We decided to add coding as part of our technology programme. The first coding club started at the Morant Bay High School in 2023,” Watson said.

She is now the author of a STEM book written for Caribbean students who have an interest in grasping technology concepts. It will be launched later this year.

The newest partnership with the Ministry of National Security Citizen Secretariat is the Young Scholars Tech Bloc Coding and Robotics Camp, which is geared towards students 8 to 19 years old being mentored and taught basic to advanced coding techniques and developing technology projects that can transform Jamaica’s digital landscape.

Her major success was the first coding club being formed under the Tech Bloc Coding and Robotics Programme. The Morant Bay High School Coding Club is the first coding club in the parish that will continue to drive the digital literacy mission in Jamaica.

“STEM is the future for every student in high school. We are teaching them how STEM can be paired with coding and build applications that people can invest in their talent. We see various transformations happening; and we see students excelling,” Watson said.

Since being launched in 2015, the Young Scholars Programme has awarded over 350 students in Jamaica and 60 students in Asia for their excellence in academics, co-curricular and service during the annual Young Scholars Leadership Conference.

The Young Scholars Foundation Annual Tech Conference and Youth Awards, which awards students ages 10 to 19 for academic and service involvement, has evolved into Young Scholars Tech Awards, which now focuses on recognising stalwarts between ages 13 and 19 excelling in technology programmes in their communities or at school.

“After a three-year hiatus, as part of our 10-year anniversary celebrations, we will resume the awards in November as part of Youth Month celebrations. Students must have at least a B+ average, be active in their academic and co-curricular activities; and show of community service,” Watson said.

Applications can be found at the foundation’s Instagram page @youngscholarsinspire

Watson is currently a senior research officer at Jamaica Promotions Corporation. She is the recipient of the Governor General’s Award of Excellence in recognition of significant Achievement Leadership 2014. Watson is also a Governor General IBI Ambassador, and the recipient of the Prime Minister Award in 2019 for Nation-Building.

Each year she must ensure that the foundation receives funding. Withstanding that, many of the programmes are funded out of pocket.

Watson is grateful for the partners that have supported the various projects over the years, which include the Flow Foundation, NCB Foundation, JPS Foundation and Think’N Change.