Saint Lucia (May 12, 2014) – The Castries Comprehensive Secondary School
was a buzz last Friday for the anticipated visit of Saint Lucia’s Culinary
Ambassador Chef Nina
Compton-Miller. The
opportunity to call on her Alma Mater as part of her itinerary was one of the
first requests she made of the Saint Lucia Tourist Board when she accepted
their invitation to participate in the culinary component of the festival.
It was a very elated
Compton-Miller who alighted from the bus virtually falling into the arms of her
former School Principal, the current Principal Ms. Marva Daniel, and the
teacher who she credits for her success in the culinary field Mrs. Priscilla
Phillip Khodra. On hand to receive her
was a full contingent of officials representing the Ministry of Education, the
Ministry of Tourism, current and former administrators of the school where Nina
Compton-Millar underwent her secondary school education, and received her first
lesson in cookery. She was accompanied on the visit by her husband.
A wall of red and white
flanked the corridors she would walk through along with her husband Larry and
the welcoming party. Students of the Sir Ira Simmons Secondary School were also
given the opportunity to attend the one hour ceremony planned in her honour.
Among the various
addresses was one by the representative of the Ministry of Tourism Ms. Samantha
Charles who both attended the CCSS and was a student of Food & Nutrition
together with Chef Compton-Millar. She noted that the visit by the Top Torque carried
a double significance.
“…One being the numerous
possibilities for Saint Lucia to be recognized on the global scene as evidenced
by Chef Nina’s performance on Top Chef. There are numerous myths associated to
the tourism industry and these can only be dispelled when there is an
understanding of the importance of the tourism industry to Saint Lucia and how
critical it is to ensure its sustainability. The other important thing is that
through Chef Nina’s journey you can indeed believe that the sky is the limit.”
In her remarks to the
students Chef Nina Compton- Millar’s aim, was to entreat them to highly regard
the school experience and give it priority over the transient distractions of
youth because later on they will appreciate that they were investing in the
building blocks of their future. She
spoke about the usefulness of a balance in their participation in school life,
citing her own involvement in school sports. Chef Nina credited her success to first
F&N tutor Mrs. Priscilla Khodra.
“The first thing she
showed me how to make was guava cheese. It may seem simple, but it started with
that lesson and she made me who I am today. I really want you guys to pay
attention in class because it is the most important thing. It is not easy, but
stay in school, read. We have to make it what it is. Every one of you can make
a difference.”
For their part, the students documented their occasion with a number of creative performances among them Maya Angelou’s Phenomenal Woman by the CCSS students of Elocution.
About the Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival
The Saint
Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival opens on April 30th 2014 at the
Mindoo Phillip Park. The festival’s main headliners include celebrated multiple Grammy Award winning
singer-songwriter Dee-Dee Bridgewater, Barrington Levy, Teddyson John featuring Alison
Hinds, P-Square, Tessanne Chin, The Commodores and Maxwell.
The
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER of the 2014 Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival is the
Saint Lucia Tourist Board. PLATINUM
sponsor is Digicel - Be Extraordinary. GOLD
sponsors are Heineken, The Wave, HTS, Colombus, Flow, LUCELEC, Radio Caribbean
International, and Kinds Ocean Services. SILVER
sponsors are Cotton Bay Village St. Lucia and Radio St. Lucia BRONZE sponsors are Bank of Saint Lucia
Ltd, DBS, Chairman’s Reserve – Finest St. Lucian Rum, RBC Royal Bank and RBTT
Bank Ltd. COLLATERAL sponsors are Avis
Rent a Car, Blue Waters, Kotex, ExelSign
and Guy’s Car Rental, Guardsman, Johnnie Walker
Black, and Hot FM.
For more information on the full lineup for Saint
Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival 2014 along with show dates, venues and ticket
sales, log onto www.stluciajazz.org ,download the festival app: http://bit.ly/1eJpjjh or email us at slutour@candw.lc
Follow the Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival on Twitter and Instagram (@StLuciaJazzFest) and like their page on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/SaintLuciaJazzAndArtsFestival)
Follow the Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival on Twitter and Instagram (@StLuciaJazzFest) and like their page on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/SaintLuciaJazzAndArtsFestival)
For more information about the island of Saint Lucia call:
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