JPS Foundation powers up with oversubscribed launch for its high school energy club

With a view towards empowering the next generation of climate-smart innovators, the JPS Foundation invited over 150 students and 21 educators from 13 high schools across the island to the launch of its rebranded Power Up Energy Clubs last Tuesday at the University of the West Indies Regional Headquarters in Mona. Garnering support from several of the power company’s executive management team, who welcomed the opportunity to interface with the young men and women, the launch proved an insightful window into the dynamic world of energy ideation and expansive employment possibilities.

“Think of yourselves as persons who will be making groundbreaking transformations. Challenge your intellect and broaden your horizon,” came the charge from guest speaker Winston Blackwood, head of digital transformation and business effectiveness at JPS, to the room filled to capacity with students from Fern Court, Calabar, St. Catherine, Mushett, Claude McKay, Waterford, Merlene Ottey, Tarrant, York Castle, Jose Marti Technical, Ocho Rios, Holy Childhood and Albert Town high schools. “The energy landscape is changing with resource depletion and environmental degradation,” Blackwood appealed to the captive youth audience, encouraging them to utilise their club membership to challenge themselves mentally. “The world needs your audacity, and you are not to just understand the status quo, you are here to disrupt it. Embrace the power of disruptive thinking to develop energy that is renewable and accessible to all,” urged the energy expert.

Meanwhile senior lecturer in the Department of Physics at the UWI Mona Campus, Dr. Andre Coy, in his address, heaped praises on the existence of the Energy Club in Jamaica’s secondary institutions. “I wish I had an energy club that was active like this while I was attending high school,” Coy said. “Energy is not just about science. Whether you are a science enthusiast or not, you can innovate or collaborate,” the university educator noted. “The club offers a pathway to critical thinking so I encourage you to pull the different strands and come together to develop ideas.”