UCC supports Miss Teen - $400,000 scholarship for this year's winner

The University College of the Caribbean (UCC) has donated a scholarship worth $400,000 to the winner of the Miss Teen Jamaica 2011-12 title, 16-year-old Krystle Kerr, a student of William Knibb High School, Trelawny.

The presentation was made at the UCC campus, Worthington Avenue, in New Kingston on September 1 by the Winston I. Adams, executive chairman and president of the higher education institution.

Also in attendance was Dr Dameon Black, acting deputy president.

Kerr, the 31st winner of the contest and the first from the City of Montego Bay, thanked the UCC for its kind gesture, and promised to make the best use of the opportunity the institution has offered her. The scholarship, which was being offered for the second consecutive year, is open to any undergraduate course, but she plans to study law.

"I intend to start my studies here at the UCC, where I will pursue my Bachelor of Laws, LLB degree," she said.

Kerr won the Miss Teen Jamaica 2011-2012 contest on July 24 at the final at The Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston, wearing the sash of Parts Zone Auto Parts. She was strongly supported by the Montego Bay community during the contest, and has consistently expressed a deep commitment to the parish of St James where she hopes to practise her profession.

She bested 14 of her peers from high schools across Jamaica. In addition to the title, she also won prizes for being the Most Intelligent, Most Eloquent as well as the contestant with Best Christian principles. She was crowned by last year's winner, Renée Wilson of Mona High School in Kingston, who was the first winner of a UCC scholarship and who started her studies there this month.