Almost 80 first-form students from three secondary schools are being given a five-year opportunity to develop the skills they need to better manage their emotions, build confidence, and make positive choices.
The students from the Grantley Adams Memorial, Princess Margaret, and St George secondary schools are part of Supreme Counselling for Personal Development’s Project Rescue programme, which begins in first form and continues through fifth form, with students taking part in eight weeks of in-school sessions each year.
The 2026 cohort was officially welcomed at Hilton Barbados during an event dubbed ‘The Doorway to Possibility’.
Kim Yearwood-Small
Addressing the audience during the welcome event, Supreme Counselling’s deputy director Kim Yearwood-Small told the students they should not allow their current circumstances, mistakes, or the opinions of others to define their futures.
“Your present circumstances are not your final destination. Your mistakes are not your identity,” she said, explaining that Project Rescue was not simply about telling students to behave but about helping them understand their potential.
The programme addresses issues including emotional regulation, conflict, bullying, peer pressure, decision-making, behaviour, self-esteem, and social well-being.
Yearwood-Small said academic success alone was not enough if young people were not equipped to deal with the challenges of everyday life.
“A child can know mathematics and still not know how to control anger. A child can pass English and still struggle to communicate what he or she is feeling. A child can know science and still be unable to solve conflict without violence. A child can receive certificates and still secretly believe that he or she has no one, so our responsibility must be greater. We must educate the whole child.
“We must build character. We must build confidence. We must teach co-compatibility. We must teach your young people that strength is not demonstrated by how hard you can hit someone. Strength is knowing when to walk. Strength is being able to say, ‘I was wrong.’ Strength is controlling your emotions when everything else wants to explode. Strength is standing up for someone who is being bullied when someone else is laughing. Strength is making the right decision even when someone is pushing,” she said.
Yearwood-Small also encouraged the students to embrace the challenges they will face over the five years.
The deputy director pointed to feedback from previous participants as evidence that the programme is making a difference, stating that more than 91 per cent of past participants said Project Rescue helped them make better choices, 86 per cent said they learned things they could use in real life, 85 per cent said they felt safe and respected during the sessions, and almost 88 per cent said they would recommend the programme to others.
But Yearwood-Small insisted the numbers only told part of the story.
“Behind every percentage is a person. A young man who decided not to fight. A young woman who discovered confidence. A child who never spoke about something that was hurting. A student who realised they can make a different choice. That is a possibility,” she said.
Speaking to Barbados TODAY, project officer Latrishe Clarke said the programme seeks to help young people develop into well-rounded citizens.
“Hopefully, as they take in the information each year, it will have a lasting impact on their lives. We want them to build their character, express their emotions in a healthy way through effective communication, and we want them to build their characters so they can be better citizens, because they are the future citizens who will build our country. The world is in turmoil, and we are looking to them to be the beacon of hope to change the tide of the negative things happening,” she said. (JB)
