Eleuthera High School students who proactively responded to saving the island’s Lighthouse Point from being sold to Disney through their creation of ‘Save Lighthouse Point Online Petition’ – were awarded the ‘Good Citizenship’ Award last week.
Wadainya Weinberger, Franchesca Hanna and Kristman Moss of Central Eleuthera High School took the airways to campaign their cause to Save Lighthouse Point and successfully encouraged thousands of Bahamians and others to sign the online petition to protect what is very dear and sacred to them.
Weinberger, Hanna and Moss made a passionate plea to Bahamians on local radio stations with aspirations of attracting the attention of the government and the wider public on general to consider a more sustainable development model for the treasured lighthouse point and the surrounding 700 acres of land.
“Lighthouse Beach is beautiful and picturesque, and we believe it is important to speak out if we want to save it,” said 16-year-old Hanna.
The students first visited the famed Lighthouse Point along with their classmates from the Central Eleuthera High School, and were featured as part of a video to raise awareness about the cause.
During their visit, they gained a first-hand appreciation of the pristine beauty of the area and the potential it has for the future development of their island. Now, armed with that knowledge. they began encouraging Bahamians and visitors to sign the petition for change.
They were also instrumental in welcoming media influencers including popular social media personality ‘Sawyer Boy’, RET Entertainment host ‘Rabs’ and radio talk show host Zhivargo Laing to the island to help them gain a similar appreciation for the site.
Their advocacy added an additional ten thousand people to add their names to the petition taking the figure to more than twenty-nine thousand signatures.
Such endeavours now have been recognized by the very community they are working to defend.
“We couldnít be prouder of these three amazing teenagers,” Bahamas National Trust (BNT) Executive Director Eric Carey said.
“They are passionate and knowledgeable and are using their influence to affect real change, which is what we want to see all the youth of this country do.”
Additionally, the trio was recently presented with awards to celebrate their activism, becoming recipients of the ‘Good Citizenship’ award as part of the annual Character Day celebrations.
The event was a collaborative effort between various Non-Government Organizationís (NGO) and sponsorship partners, honours young men and women who prove, through their actions, that they are prepared to impact the way their society functions.
Each year Character Day records activities which generate conversations on 24-character traits, grouped into six categories on the Periodic Table of Character Strengths; events are intrinsically linked to the five key competencies of social and emotional learning – self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.
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