Two schools hold open days
School may be just about over for thousands of Belizean students but today I made one last visit to see just what was new at two Belize City schools.
The exhibition, called open day, has been a popular annual activity around this time of the year for many primary schools. But today it was the first for the staff and students of St. John Vianney in Belize City. According to the school’s principal, Anita Wade, the event was not only held to highlight the students’ work, but to address a problem that has been occurring for far too long.
Anita Wade, Principal, St. John Vianney Primary School
“We are trying to get parents as much a part of school as possible and this is our second project. We have done a Christmas variety show for parents and now this open day. Because it is kind of hard to get our parents in Port Loyola to support their children and the school fees and by putting out children activities, they will become more interested in what the school is doing in the area.
The children are excited. It’s their first open day and they went all the way out by themselves. It’s not a fancy open day where you would see a lot of stuff bought from shops and whatever. It’s an open day with projects made from ordinary scrap materials that they can pick up and make themself.”
For example, fourteen year old Jacklyn Castillo and her group depicted the Garifuna culture by making a model of Hopkins Village out of sticks, paper and sand. Castillo told us why her group chose to highlight this particular Garifuna community.
Jacklyn Castillo, 14 Years Old
“Because Hopkins is where the Garifunas settled, because it is by the sea and Garifunas make their living by fishing. As you can see we have a display of the sea and the background are houses and the sand that Hopkins is made of. And to me Hopkins is like more a Garifuna settlement than any other settlement in Dangriga.”
A similar activity was also unfolding on the north side of the city. The boys and girls at Trinity Methodist School proved that they are equally creative.
Rudolph Conorquie, Teacher, Trinity Methodist Primary School
“Well the main idea is to show that students, besides doing things academically, can do a lot of things that are very creative with their hands: art work, different food stuff and so on.”
While it was Trinity’s third exhibition, Wade says they plan on making their first open day an annual one for St. John Vianney.
For most primary schools around the country Friday will be the final day of classes.
