PORT OF SPAIN – Eleven year old inventor Kester Charlemagne was named recipient of the Caribbean Young Inventors and Innovators Award at the Youth Forum of the Americas, April 16, 2009 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Charlemagne, a fifth grade student at the Millet Primary School in Anse-la-Raye, St. Lucia, is the project leader of a team of young scientists who manufactured a homemade cooler using waste products found around their homes. The cooler, made of a plastic water bottle, Styrofoam and aluminum foil, was the winning entry of the St. Lucia National Schools’ Science and Technology Fair.

The cooler was tested against other commercially made coolers and found to be just as effective, retaining the temperature of the substance it contained for up to eight hours, with the added benefit of being cheaper to produce and being environmentally friendly.

Charlemagne explained the rationale of the Millet Primary School Homemade Cooler to the St. Lucian public at the 2009 National Independence Exhibition and was nominated to represent his school and country at the Caribbean Young Inventors and Innovators Competition in Trinidad and Tobago.

He was successful again in Trinidad and Tobago, and was presented with his award by Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Ambassador Albert Ramdin.

Charlemagne is described as a model student who has always placed first in his class. He currently holds an overall average of 93.5% and placed first in his school in the 2008 Minimum Standard Examination in St. Lucia. In addition to being class representative and a school prefect, Charlemagne is a footballer, cricketer and an athlete. The other young scientists on Charlemagne’s team are Sherry Wilson, Davy Regis, Craig Regis and Francia Augustin.

Upon receiving the award, Charlemagne offered the following advice to young aspiring inventors and innovators: "First, you need to think about science and then learn by testing your ideas. Also, you need to challenge yourself so that you can use your creative and problem solving abilities to solve everyday problems and once you have used your creativity in solving a problem, you will continue to think about and work on the problem. This challenging situation can result in you becoming a scientist or an inventor, solving problems and learning at the same time."

The Youth Forum of the Americas was coordinated by the Young Americas Business Trust and the National Summit Secretariat of Trinidad and Tobago. The YABT is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the OAS whose mission is to promote entrepreneurship among young people as a way to address economic and social development in the Americas. The Forum attracted over 250 young people and representatives from organizations involved in the development of youth to Trinidad and Tobago for a series of interactive presentations, networking events, panels, working groups and exhibitions.

The Caribbean Council for Science and Technology (CCST), supported by a grant from the Technical Cooperation Fund (FEMCIDI) of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (SEDI) of the Organization of American States (OAS) along with Organization of American States (OAS) and the National Institute for Higher Education Research Science and Technology (NIHERST), launched "Go Creative", in 2006 as a 3-year project designed to nurture and build the creative capabilities of youth in the Caribbean region.

Over the past two years, National Young Inventors and Innovators Competitions were held in Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. A total of 177 school-aged children benefited from the camps held in the different islands.