On Thursday, December 29, six students from Antigua were in Montreal, sharing stories.
All six, Shenika Bentick, Sheneilla Somerset, Joel Lewis, Destiny Simon, Kwame Howell, Ghenae Emanuel are part of an initiative in their homeland that teaches them all the fundamentals of film –making including, conception direction, acting, cinematography and sound.
And over the recent past, they have been involved in the production of several interesting short film projects, under the mentorship of Antiguan born, US based pediatrician Dr. Noel Howell and in collaboration with Antigua Film Academy.
In 2020, the student were preparing for a production of short film when they were shut down by the global pandemic.
However, Dr. Howell quickly became aware of the implications of the inactivity and decided to steer the elementary and high school students in a different direction.
He encouraged them to write.
The end product, two years later is a book, “Love Friendship & Betrayal: An Anthology of Lessons Learned ”… a compilation of stories touching on various aspects of teenage life.
“I’m sure these pages are going to move some readers to tears and others to laughter,” states Dr. Howell, in the Foreword. “(….) These short stories will move every one—parents, friends and other teenagers struggling with being a teenager.”

‘Love Friendship & Betrayal: An Anthology of Lessons Learned’ is available at Amazon.com .