Thousands of Schoolchildren Sing Happy Birthday to Belize

Today, the Belize Civic Centre was filled with thousands of primary school children from different districts who came to attend the annual school children’s rally. The spirited event was packed with entertainment, including patriotic songs, a happy birthday song to Belize, the release of forty-two helium-filled balloons and the appearance of the Queen of the Bay, who showed off her graceful curtsy, much to the delight of the children. News Five’s Marion Ali attended the entertaining event and filed this report.

Marion Ali, Reporting

There was no shortage of hype at the Annual Schoolchildren’s Rally inside the Belize Civic Centre this morning. There was also no shortage of Belizean patriotism, from top to bottom and from left to right. Every child had a flag and every one of them briskly waved those flags. And while the majority of the children wore their school uniforms, there was also no shortage of cultural and patriotic attire.

Francis Fonseca

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture

“It’s one of the most beautiful things we see every year, we get to experience it, we feel the energy and passion and love from these young people, um, you know, it’s fantastic.”

Minister of Education and Culture, Francis Fonseca also reveled at the part of the rally that included the celebration of Belize’s forty-second birthday.

Francis Fonseca

“The district center thought it would be very nice to have cupcakes and light a candle and celebrate and sing happy birthday, 42. We counted down 42 years for Belize, so I think that was a wonderful addition to the program.”

For good measure, the newly-crowned Queen of the Bay, twenty-year-old Kendall Morgan, who gave the students a brief message of encouragement, also displayed her elegant and graceful curtsy. The seats at the Civic Centre were filled with schoolchildren who attended from schools in most of the districts. Marion Ali for News Five.