The 2016 Republic Bank Decibel Entertainment Conference and Expo opened on April 28 to the delight of hundreds of secondary and tertiary level students from throughout the country. Eighteen students from Holy Name Convent, Point Fortin, were among those who attended the opening day conference.
A release said their participation was made possible by the blink | bmobile Foundation, which was also a sponsor of the three-day event. The conference featured celebrity speakers in film and fashion including Swedish Actor Joel Kinnaman, best known for his roles in the movies Robocop and Easy Money, as well as actor Rob Riley of Hit The Floor and The Perfect Match.
Kashea Lewis, is a career guidance officer at the school. She accompanied the Holy Name Convent students and explained why it was important for them to attend.
“Our school has excellent visual and theatre arts programmes but I try to expose our girls to different opportunities and to get them to think outside the box.”
Last year only three students attended, but this year Lewis pushed for more to go. She said: “I’m happy to have 18 of our girls here today from Forms One to Four. They are studying various disciplines but are all in the visual and theatre arts programmes.
“The conference was on point because they were able to identify with their desired careers from a practical approach. On behalf of the school we would like to thank blink | bmobile. We really appreciate their sponsorship because some of the students were not able to afford the trip for different reasons.”
TSTT chief marketing officer Camille Campbell indicated that it was an honour for blink | bmobile to be an event sponsor as well as for the attending students. Campbell noted there is a need for additional people to study the arts subjects.
She said: “We welcome the opportunity to support the Point Fortin students so they may have career options in film, music, fashion and dance. blink | bmobile will continue to provide support to the youth of T&T.”
The delight of the Holy Name Convent students was evident from the excited reactions from many of them, including Cherelle Joseph and Shaneqa Pacheco, fourth form science students who are also members of the school’s theatre arts programme.
Although Joseph wants to be a forensic scientist, she has a deep love for acting and singing and also sees a future for herself in the arts. Joseph is an assistant director in the drama programme and has been acting in the school’s plays for four years.
Joseph shared: “When I first heard about the Decibel Conference and Expo last year, I was excited but didn’t anticipate being able to attend. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here because everything connected with me.
“The conference today will definitely encourage me to pursue my career choices. It was a fantastic experience. I just wish it could last longer than three days.”
Pacheco wants to be a cosmetic scientist and enjoys working with special effects makeup for the stage or costumes. She agreed that the conference was good exposure for them and said: “I learned a lot and everyone was so welcoming. It was really great. This is my first time at the conference and I can’t wait to come back next year.”