Northside Schools Top Social Studies Quiz
As part of a series of efforts to achieve public buy-in for the House of Culture and Downtown Rejuvenation Project, the committee behind that project organized a History and Social Studies Quiz competition for primary school students in the Old Capital. After several months of studying three hundred questions in different categories and two semi-final zone eliminations among thirteen schools, it came down to the final six this morning at the St. Catherine Academy Multi-Purpose Center, and in fact down to the very last question. News Five’s Aaron Humes tells us who won.
Aaron Humes, Reporting
After three tight and tense rounds, today’s championship final of the Belize City Primary School History and Social Studies Competition rested on the final question in round three. The representatives of Calvary Temple, Ephesus Seventh Day Adventist and St. Luke’s Methodist, despite battling hard, trailed the frontrunners – Hazey Perez of St. Mary’s Anglican; Jayden August of Holy Redeemer; and Keylen Moralez of Unity Presbyterian. After Keylen successfully named the military body formed in 1978 to protect Belize from foreign aggression – the Belize Defence Force, of course – Perez, trailing August, landed on a double-bonus question, which she needed to answer correctly in order to win.
Quiz Moderator
“Which body of the legislature consists of all appointed members? Your time starts now.”
Hazey Perez
“The Senate.”
Judge
“Is that your final answer?”
Quiz Moderator
“Final answer?”
Hazey Perez
“Yes.”
Judge
“The answer is correct. (Audience cheering)”
Hazey got it right, and won bragging rights for her school – the first-ever History Cup – along with a sweet haul of prizes – a laptop and printer, tablet and a thousand-dollar gift certificate. The very happy twelve-year-old spoke with us afterward.
Hazey Perez
Hazey Perez, Social Studies Quiz Competition Winner
“I studied very hard. I had the support from my parents, from my teachers, from the principal and friends. And I thank God for having me here to win this competition, to help me, as long as I was a little bit nervous.”
Aaron Humes
“It was a very close competition. When did you know you had won?”
Hazey Perez
“The last round.”
Organizer Albert Avila discussed the unusual scoring.
Albert Avila
Albert Avila, Community Liaison, Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation
“The first place school was slightly behind, by four hundred points or two hundred points or something like that. And what happened, we had like six questions in there, that had double points and triple points. So some of the hundred-point questions were double points, and a couple of the double points were double point so if you got a two hundred [point question] you would get four hundred, and if you got a hundred point you would get three hundred points. And I believe in the last round, she got a triple point, a hundred point that was worth three hundred, and that put her up just enough to separate her from Holy Redeemer’s Jayden August. And although he got his question correct, it was not enough to put him above Hazey Perez, from St. Mary’s Anglican School.”
A clearly disappointed August had to settle for second place, but he can console himself with a pretty good haul for his efforts. Meanwhile, third place Keylen is happy too.
Keylen Moralez
Keylen Moralez, Third Place
“I studied hard, sir. I studied hard.”
Aaron Humes
“Okay, anybody you like to thank? Who helped you prepare?”
Keylen Moralez
“My teacher, Miss Patt, and my sister Keyri Moralez.”
And while today was good clean fun for all, there is an educational component, as well as public awareness, for the House of Culture and Downtown Rejuvenation Project, according to Avila. It is the collaborative work of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, funds from Taiwan ICDF, the Belize City Council, and the National Institute of Culture and History.
Albert Avila
“This initiative is focused on young people, and we need to create a willingness to preserve and protect our history and culture, through learning and education. So that’s why we did this – we thought it was a great synergy with our objectives for the Downtown Project. Because our project is history and culture, and all the questions are based on history and culture and geography and social studies of downtown. So it worked very well together.”
Aaron Humes Reporting for News Five.
Sponsors for the Quiz include Angelus Press, Courts and the Belize Tourism Board. The Downtown Rejuvenation Project is expected to be completed by February of 2018. Other public plans include the upcoming Downtown Christmas Bram.
