Student Council with Vice President (extreme left) and President standing togethe

The Elizabeth Pemberton Primary School's Student Council primed and painted Cole Hill's entrance walls, commencing at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 1, near Pancho's Auto Repair in Nevis.

Their intention was to cover the red graffiti on the wall, which displayed obscene words, gang terms and negative symbols. The idea was initiated by the Student Council, all of whom were adorned in yellow shirts for the activity.

Participants included about 20 students, three teachers -- Ms. Claxton, Ms. Saddler, and Ms. Wilkin - six community members, and School Headmistress Mrs. Adina Taylor.

Student Council Coordinator, Ms. Kishma Wilkin, shared her thoughts with The Observer.

"I think a wider community will be reached by this gesture, because parents have children here and they don't want their children to see the guns, the lewd language, etc.," she said.

"I think that when they pass and they realize the majority of the work was done by the children, they should appreciate and respect their work and efforts by leaving the walls as we will leave them."

Parents were also present to show their support, and according to Ms. Wilkin, were satisfied with the council's efforts.

The Observer also spoke to the Student Council's President and Vice President, Leandra Browne and Veronique Walters respectively. Both girls said that they felt good about painting the walls, as a community effort, for the first time. Ms. Browne noted that she liked the fact that they were covering up the bad signs and putting up positive things.

Both also expressed their confidence that future student councils would follow their example, pertaining to the day's efforts.

Ms. Wilkin also mentioned that Mr. Vaughn Anslyn, a renowned artist on Nevis, would paint the name of the school and other designs on the walls.

Mr. Anslyn, on hand at the wall painting, was pleased to be part of the activity.
"The community got me involved to paint the name of the school and probably some little characters as well; to beautify the area and to get rid of the gang paraphernalia that was on the walls initially," he said.

He was gratified to see the children working hard to clean up the walls, stating, "I hope that the perpetrators realize that the children are the ones who did it and not just older people. If someone were to take up themselves and say, hire someone to paint the walls - somebody would say 'Oh, forget that, I'm just going to do it over.' But when you see the children doing it and put themselves and time into it, hopefully they will get the message that the children are trying to beautify their own community and maybe then they would follow suit and try to prevent themselves from doing it otherwise."

Ms. Wilkin praised the event's sponsors, proprietor of Pancho's Auto Repair Mr. Earl Hanley, who donated the yellow t-shirts worn by student council members, and Federal Representative of Nevis 9, Hon. Mark Brantley, took care of the paint and the supplies.

"It was an opportunity to partner with the children of the Elizabeth Pemberton Primary School," Representative Brantley said of his sponsorship. "It is very important to support young children in their endeavours."

In Brantley's view, the gang graffiti was an eyesore that devalued the neighbourhood, and thus he was very pleased to be a part of the initiative by joining with Mr. Hanley and making sure that other corporate citizens got involved.

Lastly, as the Federal Representative of the area, he wanted to demonstrate his continued commitment to the citizens of Cole Hill and Cox, who pass by the area where the wall is located every day.

Donations by other persons were obtained as well, all of which were gratefully received by Ms. Wilkin.

Since its inception in October 2007, each year the Student Council is comprised of a new set of members. The 13 Student Council members present on Saturday have been part of the group since September 2009, and are from grades 2-5.

The school moved to Cole Hill in Nevis about two years ago, and was renamed on the 29th March, 2010.