Omar Tomlinson/Contributor 

Starting the new academic year at Campion College as an upper sixth former, Kayla Kerr is looking to what lies ahead.

“Career-wise, I would want to go into bioengineering, but I also have a great deal of interest in astrophysics, so I would get an education in that too,” shared the contemplative 17-year-old, quick to justify with a caveat: ‘Should I want to shift professional paths, I can switch to that.’

Delighted to return to the classroom and reacquainted with friends, Kerr—a member of the school’s robotics club since first form in 2019—has already drafted a working list of overseas colleges to apply to. 

“In the United States, I am considering Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern, Emory, and Rice. Beyond America, I am looking at Switzerland and Germany, particularly the Munich University,” she divulged in a recent sit-down to discuss the preceding months that have helped to shape a future life she wants to build.

Back in April, Kerr journeyed to Texas as part of Campion’s seven-student delegation representing Jamaica at the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Challenge Robotics Competition.

However, she almost missed out on the experience as parental financial constraints at the time made travel and accommodation out of reach. That was until Campion alums, attorney-at-law Rochelle Cameron and public relations guru Odette Dixon-Neath stepped in to lend assistance in paying for Kayla’s airfare and accommodation expenses.

“I was incredibly grateful. I didn’t expect it at all. It showed their commitment as Campionites to support my generation,” Kerr remarked of the women’s goodwill gesture.

The Texan trip was the teenager’s first visit to North America, but even more significantly, it placed her and club peers squarely among like-minded STEM enthusiasts from all corners of the globe. Ahead of the overseas contest, the Campion Crimson Crocs team had secured the Inspire Award at the FIRST Tech Challenge Jamaica Robotics Championship in March. Chosen from 28 participating teams, the award was given to the team that best embodied the spirit of the Challenge programme, where members function as strong for FIRST initiatives both within their community and the competition.

Recounting the strategic approach leading up to the local leg of competition, Kerr disclosed: “We started preparations to compete from September last year right up to March. The club had meetings twice a week and sometimes on weekends. Our focus for each meeting changed depending on how far we were in the season, but the main things were engineering, documentation and designing the robots.”

Kerr’s assigned club responsibilities were on outreach and documentation. “I planned activities for the club, we had online panel discussions with people from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Microsoft, as well as oceanographers from Jamaica, as the theme for this year’s FIRST Tech Challenge was centred around a water-based game.” 

Teamwork made the dream work, according to the science-loving teen, as she said the Crimson Crocs team started preparations in earnest from last September right up to the local contest in March this year.

“We had driver practice where [club members] practised driving the bot around and controlling its movements, and also a virtual simulation. We were focusing on building the bot and scoring on driving it a number of times.”

Advancing to the global competition, with robotics teams from Hillel Academy as well as the American International School in Kingston also making the trip, the Jamaican delegation counted themselves among over 600 teams from across the world.

Kayla shared that a memorable cultural exchange came from interfacing with “three teams from Thailand. They were very friendly and we discussed our flights and exchanged gifts at the end of the competition. One of the teams was from Mexico; they were practising CSEC Spanish, so we were talking in Spanish,” she added. “It was a lot of different people and perspectives, but also similar because everyone was there for the same reason.”

Held at the George R. Brown Convention Centre in Houston from April 16 to 19, the 2025 global robotics competition game, titled REEFSCAPE, called on two three-team alliances to compete to score coral, harvest algae, and attach to the barge before time runs out. Alliances earned additional rewards for meeting specific scoring thresholds and for cooperating with their opponents to strengthen the reef. 
A challenge would present itself for Kerr and company in the Lone State. 

“We were focused in Texas on getting the bot to score more points and be more stable in the matches. We changed out the arm because it kept on malfunctioning, so we changed it into something else in the hopes that it would work better,” she recalled

“As a team, we worked on the bot late into the night, up to 2:00 a.m. We had to suddenly change the design, so we were working on a lot of fixes. Once we changed the design, we committed to it.”

Campion alum Cameron, the primary benefactor in making Kayla’s wish to be at a global competition come true, explained her rationale behind giving a helping hand. “I believe deeply in paying it forward. When I learned of Kayla’s opportunity to represent Campion in Texas, I saw not just a brilliant student but a young woman poised to soar. Supporting her was a no-brainer. I wanted her to experience that moment, fully knowing that someone who walked the same halls believed in her and her limitless potential.

Cameron, who graduated from the renowned co-ed high school as head girl in 1992, is today CEO of her own six-year-old company, Prescient Consulting, which offers legal and regulatory services, corporate crisis communications and professional development workshops. 

Meeting Kayla in person for the first time recently at her West Kings Road-located offices, the lawyer was laudatory of that encounter. “Kayla lit up the room. Her excitement about robotics was absolutely infectious—it made me want to learn more about it myself,” Cameron recalled. “Beyond her intellect, what truly struck me was her grace. She’s well-mannered, articulate and engaging.”

Asked if the interaction with Kayla in any way reminded her of a teenaged Rochelle, the legal mind responded “Absolutely, speaking with Kayla took me back. I remembered the ambition, the curiosity and sense of boundless possibility. I was a science student who loved literature and dreamed of law. I would tell my younger self and Kayla that the dreams we start with are just the beginning. You’ll not only love them, you’ll dream up new ones. The best is always ahead.” 

Meanwhile, Keisha Morrison, the robotics club faculty advisor and head of the technology department at Campion College, sang praises of Kerr,  one of two girls on the male-dominated team.

“Kayla is a bright student with a keen interest in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses…she quietly participated in all aspects of the team’s progress and offered insight on ways to fix the robotics claw mechanism as well as spearheaded several outreach programs which are a large part of the competition.”

The club facilitator, who has been involved in First Tech Challenge Robotics for three years, relayed her pride of the Campion team’s performance in Texas. 

“They stood out among 66 countries and earned the Judges Choice award — which recognised a team for their outstanding efforts but does not factor into the advancement criteria —. within their division. I saw these students overcome technical challenges and show up on stage to give it their all. The judges were particularly impressed with the students and their knowledge of robotics and their ability to apply things learned in school to their robot.” 

During her summer break, Kerr was afforded the opportunity to be among 500 students from 80 countries attending the  London International Youth Science Forum in Britain that wrapped on August 6.

She recalled the 15-day event that featured demonstrations from leading scientists around the world and visits to top English universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, as “an incredible experience. I got to engage with new, cutting-edge research and met peers worldwide with similar interests.”

Her head now buried in the books studying biology, chemistry, physics and pure mathematics in the final year of high school, she reiterated that her later life will be aligned in the tech field.

“I want to start my own bioengineering firm 20 years from now,” the optimistic high schooler shared. “I would want to start it here because I think Jamaica has a lot of brilliant people that just aren’t being tapped into. I want to focus on creating imaging devices and drug delivery methods. But, new ones as those presently available, rely on radiation, but there is a lot ofthe electromagnetic spectrum we could be using instead.”

For the laser-focused Kerr who turns 18 in December, the road ahead holds infinite promise.