…19 others awarded in Recover Guyana, ExxonMobil, MOE partnership
Randy Mangal of Skeldon Linepath Secondary School is this year’s ‘Top National Youth Environmental Advocate’ after winning Recover Guyana’s SHOUT4Change Competition. The four-phased competition, open to secondary schools across Guyana to engage more youths in environmental protection and preservation, concluded on World Environment Day, Friday, June 5, 2026.
This is the fourth edition of the National Environmental Competition hosted in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, with support from ExxonMobil Guyana.
Founder and President of Recover Guyana, Dr Dave Lalltoo, noted that the 2026 edition of the competition represents a significant advancement in the NGO’s commitment to youth empowerment through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) integration and practical environmental learning.
This year, he said, “the competition welcomed national finalists from 20 secondary schools across Guyana, reflecting geographic diversity and ensuring youth representation from various regions of the country. Through a structured, multi-phase competition process and extensive capacity-building engagements, finalists have been supported not only to strengthen their public speaking skills but also to deepen their environmental awareness, emotional readiness, and leadership capabilities.”
The competition began with the submission of one-minute videos from grades nine and ten students from secondary schools across Guyana detailing the sustainable changes they would make to their school’s environment if given one million dollars ($1,000,000). “This phase commenced on February 9, 2026, and attracted over seventy (70) submissions from which twenty (20) candidates were identified as national finalists by a selection panel using set criteria.”
Friday’s event at the Ramada Georgetown Princess Hotel featured phases two, three and four of the competition. This entailed candidates delivering prepared environmental speeches, engaging in an impromptu speech segment, and the four top students being asked one environmental question to determine the national winner: How would you incorporate STEM-based solutions in the execution of your project idea to address the major environmental issues affecting your school environment, should you be given $1,000,000 to do so?.
Randy Mangal of Skeldon Linepath Secondary School emerged as the winner of the competition. Mangal’s project aims to convert waste into opportunities at his school. Delivering his response in the final segment of the competition, he noted that he will invest his $1,000,000 win in converting waste materials into seating and vertical gardens, among other initiatives. With the implementation of water refill stations, he also intends to reduce plastic bottle use.
Mangal also received 1 HP laptop, 1-year of free ONE Fibre internet service, and an education advancement voucher valued at $100,000.
Coming in second place was Bhomika Singh of Tagore Memorial High School who received 1 HP laptop, 1-year of free ONE Fibre internet service, and an education advancement voucher valued at $75,000.
Third and fourth places were copped by Brandon Holder of Hope Secondary School and Orlando Reynolds of Presidents College who each received 1 HP laptop,1-year of free ONE Fibre internet service, and an education advancement voucher valued at $50,000 and $25,000, respectively.
The competition is supported by ExxonMobil Guyana. The company’s Socioeconomic Manager Lorna Carlson lauded the initiative by Recover Guyana, which creates a platform for students to be action thinkers who identify issues and develop sustainable remedies. She noted that “at ExxonMobil, we’re guided by a very simple model, and we live it every day: Protect tomorrow today – our commitment to protect the environment while delivering the energy the globe needs. This means responsibly developing Guyana’s resources while also safeguarding its rich natural environment.”
Others in the top ten are Elijah Ryan Toolsie of Stewartville Secondary School, Hadassah Harris of Friendship Secondary, Ruqayyah Mohamed of Qayyim Academy, Emma Munro of St Joseph High School, Jolena Camacho of JC Chandisingh Secondary and Raphieal Jacobis of Leguaan Secondary School. They received prizes, including an Eco Award, a $35,000 Dental Voucher from Flawless Dental and recognition for their efforts.
The Best Speaker Award was won by Orlando Reynolds of President’s College while the prize for the Most Influential Speech was awarded to Brandon Holder of Hope Secondary School and and Bhomika Singh of Tagore Memorial High School was presented with the Go Green Award by Recover Guyana. Reynolds also received the prize for Best Environmental Impact Speech
Other sponsors and partners for the competition were: Scotiabank Guyana Inc., Flawless Dental GY, Ramada Georgetown Princess Hotel, One Communications, GuyOil, Massy Stores Guyana, Pixel Perfect Productions, SEVA Marketing Inc., ELEVATE, and Anthony Indar Photography.
The competition was first hosted in 2023 on World Environment Day, and the winner, declared after extensive judging, was Vassana Persaud of Queen’s College. Vasanna later went on to launch a water purification project within her school’s premises to combat plastic bottle waste.
The winners in 2024 and 2025 were Gabriella Arjun of Queen’s College who launched a Hydroponics Kitchen Garden and Anushka Singh also of Queen’s College who launched a cycle smart project.
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