Gwen Liz High holds open day
It seems that Belize’s secondary schools have discovered a new tool for attracting quality students. It’s called public relations…. as for the third time in two weeks a Belize City high school has invited the public inside for a look. This morning I visited with the class of ’98 at Gwendolyn Lizarraga High.
The students of Gwen Lizarraga High School spent much of the day touring the different displays in the institution’s annual Open Day. The exhibition, says Dianne Parks, the school’s Public Relations Officer is held in order to achieve two specific goals.
Dianne Parks, P.R. Gwen Lizarraga H.S.
“Well, one of the main reasons is for the students to display what they have been producing over the past year and also to market the institution as such. The different areas we have on display, we are hoping that it is going to attract students to want to come here this coming year September.”
Whether you were interested in food production and preparation, or simply searching for a new look for the home, the students were only too happy to showcase their best creations.
Dianne Parks
“I am sure that it’s going to build their self esteem. They seem to be rather proud and happy today in that people are coming in to see what they have done and especially where their parents and friends are coming to look specifically at what, in the case of the parents, what their child has produced.”
One production that had visitors crowding its entrance was the display of a rain forest by the class of 4A.
William Dawson, Student
“Well actually we wanted people to get a first hand experience of what it is like in the rain forest and we just tried to the best of our ability to depict creatures and trees and you know different animals that live in the rainforest, to get people to know what the rainforest is all about.
We didn’t expect it to come out this good and people are actually enjoying themselves as they enter into the classroom and they actually feel like it is a real forest that they are in.”
Another show displayed a different kind of talent that was just as moving.
Dianne Parks
“Usually when people think about Gwen Liz., they say, well like we are way back here and nothing is really happening here. But for example the Vocational Department is one of our strong departments. Mr. Sosa is the teacher in charge there and he has been producing good students at C.X.C. level.”
In fact, Parks says for the last eight years, the school has had one hundred percent passes in C.X.C., with a large amount of students passing with distinction.
