Schools across the island will continue to commemorate this island???s 48th Anniversary of Independence with a series of cultural programmes this week.
Independence Day, which falls on Sunday, November 30, will be celebrated through dance, song, and poetry; the sale of Bajan delicacies; and in some cases, educational tours across the island. Events of the past will also feature prominently.
On Wednesday, November 26, tiny tots at Government Hill Nursery School will be shown how to make fish cakes and bakes during a demonstration lesson.
On Thursday, November 27, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., teachers will take them on an educational tour of the School Meals Department at Country Road; Independence Square, and the Barbados Light Aeroplane Club, at the South Ramp, of the Grantley Adams International Airport.
The following day, Friday, November 28, children will dress in cultural costumes and participate in activities centred on the theme: 48 and Moving On.??At Eden Lodge Nursery School, Barbadian characters will come alive through the children???s dress on Thursday, November 27, and they will be treated to cassava pone made by parents.
The following day, Friday, November 28, the pupils will perform songs, poems and dance while enjoying an Independence concert under the theme: Moving Around Barbados – Transportation Past and Present. They will also be entertained by two-time winner of the Richard Stoute Teen Talent competition, Cherish Breedy.
Boscobelle Primary will host its activities under the theme: Revisiting Our Past, Looking To Our Future. The annual Independence Quiz will be on Wednesday, November 26, from 10:00 a.m., while on Thursday, November 27, there will be Bajan Story-Telling Day. A demonstration of cooking and local games from the past, as well as the highlight – an exhibition of the indigenous game of road tennis, will also be held on that day.
The following day, Friday, November 28, from 9:30 a.m., a cultural atmosphere will envelope the school as children, dressed in national colours, display dancing, singing and stilt-walking skills during their Independence concert.
At Workman???s Primary, there will be a quiz on Wednesday, November 26; a display of artefacts on Thursday, November 27; and a concert on Friday, November 28, under the theme: Building Barbados, One Community At a Time. The concert starts at 4:00 p.m., and there will be various artistes performing folk songs.
Cuthbert Moore Primary, with its theme: Celebrating 48 Years, will hold a thanksgiving service on Wednesday, November 26, at 9:00 a.m., to be followed by the release of 48 balloons to mark the period. On Thursday, November 27, there will be an inter-house quiz, while on Friday, November 28, an inter-house Speech Competition on What Independence Means to Me and a concert, which begins at 9:30 a.m., will be held.
Friday, November 28, at St. Cyprian???s Boys??? School will be marked by an Independence programme of song, dance and skits featuring students, the Rose Hill Landship and a calypsonian. The concert, which starts at 5:00 p.m., will be held in the school???s hall under the theme: Times Past.
At the Alexandra School, students, alumni and staff, including Principal Orson Alleyne, will, from 7:30 a.m. on Friday, November 28, participate in the inaugural Torch Run from Sandy Lane Hotel to the school on Queen???s Street, St. Peter. This will be followed by a cadet parade during assembly and an afternoon concert that same day.
Meanwhile, at St. Leonard???s Boys??? Secondary School, emphasis will be placed on video presentations with one tomorrow, Tuesday, November 25, on Movement to Independence, and another on Wednesday, November 26, on National Hero, The Rt. Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers.
Friday, November 28, will be marked by a concert, a cadet parade, a road tennis game, a display of select pieces of art by the Fine Arts and Industrial Arts departments, as well as sampling of Barbadian gourmet delights from the Food and Nutrition Department.
Parents and guardians, as well as the general public, are invited to participate in activities staged at schools across the island.
joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb