18-Year Old Mannings Student is Junior Mayor for Westmoreland

Raquel Muir, an 18-year old upper six student at the Mannings High in Savanna-La-Mar, is the 2007 Junior Mayor for the Westmoreland Parish Council.
She was selected from among 14 students from educational institutions across the parish, in a keenly contested competition organized by the Parish Council recently, as part of activities to mark Local Government Month in November.
Raquel, who is a prefect and a certified peer counsellor, has 10 passes in the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) tests and three at the Advanced Level. She has ambitions to become a pathologist and forensic scientist.
The 2007 Westmoreland Junior Mayor told JIS News that the competition was “overwhelming and challenging” and she was proud to have won.
“The talents among my fellow junior councillors were superb. Each junior councillor did a tremendous job. It was overall an excellent event and each junior councillor is to be commended as they all did well,” she stated.
The competition involved a presentation by the junior councillors on issues and concerns within their divisions and to present a project, which could improve the community. Raquel’s project was the beautification of the Guy Ottey Park, which was established in memory of the first Mayor of Savanna-La-Mar.
“I hope to implement my plan and hence create a beautiful area in my division. My advice to students and prospective participants in the competition is to strive for the best, don’t be afraid and work with your plans and ideas. They might just turn out to be the best among the best,” she stated.