8 November 2007

Today Premier Dr. the Hon. Ewart F. Brown welcomed school children to the Cabinet lawn for a Brown Bag Lunch.

The Premier said: "This was a good group of young people, some of the brightest in our public school system. It was great to just sit down with them and have a chat. I was a little surprised how up-to-speed some of them were on current events. It made for very interesting conversation – after awhile I forgot I was talking to school children."

With the help of the Ministry of Education and Sport, two students from each of the country’s public middle and high schools were invited. Where possible, school officials sent their Head Boy and Head Girl.

Randolph Horton, the Minister responsible for Education, also attended.

He said: "I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for any young person to sit down and have a conversation with the Premier of the country. An afternoon like this, which is so easy to arrange, goes a long way to lifting up our kids – letting them know what they have to say really does matter."

There were about a dozen students on the Cabinet lawn for the Brown Bag Lunch. Each pair of students traveled to the event with a school chaperone who also participated in the lunch.

There was a wide variety of conversation. Kameron Creighton from Clearwater Middle School talked with the Premier about running track, Michelle Onyia from T.N. Tatem Middle School talked with the Premier about going to medical school, and Sanae Russell from CedarBridge Academy discussed education scholarships.

After the lunch Miss Russell said: "This was a great initiative. It should be done more often, not just for heads, but all students who have an opinion to share."

The Brown Bag Lunch is an extension of the Premier’s Thursday open door policy where members of the public are permitted time to meet with the leader and discuss issues important to them. The open door policy has become so popular the Premier decided to invite people in groups to encourage dialogue.