O.W. Tech students showcase talents
The desire to attract the best possible primary graduates to local high schools is not just a Belize City phenomenon. Yesterday News 5’s Janelle Chanona travelled north to see what the growing number of prospective secondary students can expect this September.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
On Tuesday, the students and teachers of Orange Walk Technical High welcomed their younger peers and parents onto the campus as part of the school’s annual open day activities.
Displays ranged from bristol board graphics to unique games. In the Physics room, visitors received lessons in the uses of electricity and a visual presentation on the basic mechanics of a submarine.
The scholars also expressed their academic creativity meshing English and Math in poems. While this poem took pot shots at a fictional woman, this game aimed to have students stretch their mental muscles.
Across the courtyard, their counterparts were concerned with other muscles…the dancing kind. Presentations ranged from modern day Latin beats to the Indian musicals.
Dings, clicks and a few beats also dominated the air in the typing room where I tried my hand at blending in with the students. While the students admit this trade might seem archaic, it does have its place in the present.
Luisa Rivas, Second Form Student
“It’s easy, but sometimes I get nervous and I can’t do my work correct.”
Janelle Chanona
“You think it’s important to learn typing?”
Luisa Rivas
“Yes because when you get in third form you have to take computer and you will need it. I think it’s very important.”
But when things got down to business, these young entrepreneurs were all about making a fashion statement.
Joseline Baños, Fourth Form Student
“At the end of the semester, we get a project to do and this is our project, which consists of building our own business and do the proposal. And maybe if we have time, send it to the banks to see if they would really accept our proposal.”
Sticking to the fashion sense, these modelling mannequins showed off the talent of the textile classes, while the public perused their other handiwork.
Having worked up an appetite we headed to the kitchen where the chefs served up full course meals. Taste testing is a dirty job but someone had to do it…want to try some?
Zinnia Magaña, Third Form Student
“It’s really enjoying. We learn a lot of things. We learn how to cook and bake a lot of things. Like we have here, different pastries, bake chicken, sliced sandwich and different things.”
Janelle Chanona
“What’s the hardest part about cooking?”
Zinnia Magaña
“Using your utensils.”
Janelle Chanona
“Yeah? Like which one?”
Zinnia Magaña
“For example, the knives. The different kind of knives.”
But these boys had no trouble using knives to expose the inner workings of these frogs. The scientists redeemed themselves by distilling muddy slop into purified water and coming up with their own version of perfume…smellivision would have worked well here, especially since the rose petal concoction didn’t look too enticing.
Janelle Chanona
“This wah knock you out…you can’t bathe inna this.”
…but the soap worked.
Student
“There are two kinds of soap, soap-less and the one with suds.”
Not everything the students did will end up in someone’s stomach or the trash…for the past two months the woodwork department dedicated themselves to completing this picnic shed. Inside, they also demonstrated their other skills: block and tile laying, using a temporary method.
Arturo Menesez, Fourth Form Student
“We prepare the floor, level it, mix the sand and the white lime, mix it up with water, then start laying the tiles step by step. First we start with the centre and then we spread it one fours and then continue until the twelve of them stick there.”
Janelle Chanona
“You like doing this sort of thing?”
Arturo Menesez
“Yes, it’s my favourite. It’s nice to do these things.”
While the students might enjoy themselves, administration says the school’s message is that lifelong skills are being passed on.
Marisa Urbina, Principal, O.W. Technical High
“We hope that our visitors could leave and get an understanding of what our school offers. We hope that they can understand that our school is a school that offers a cross-section of areas, science, commercial, vocational, and as well business. We hope that they understand that our school has a broadbased curriculum and the core of the school is the vocational area where we aim to impart useful skills upon our students.”
Reporting for News 5, I am Janelle Chanona.
