Preschoolers unleash their talent in the 2013 Preschool Festival of Arts

Since Tuesday, the annual pre-school Festival of Arts has been taking place here in Belize City. Over one hundred performances by students from some thirty-six preschools throughout the Belize District will, by the end of the week, take to the Bliss Stage to showcase their talents in drama, music and dance. The festival is being held this year under the theme: “Unleash the Talent; Brighten the World.” And according to Coordinator, Leroy Green; the festival indicates that talent is not bound by age.

Leroy Green, Nat’l Coordinator Expressive Arts, Min. of Education

Leroy Green

“Since Tuesday night, we have been going strong, the audience has been good. We have been going strong. And the young ones—three and four year olds—have been lighting up the stage with their performances in drama, dance and music. We have seen and I’m glad to say—we have seen it and NICH has seen it—the improvement in the performances over the years. And I’m noticing in the preschool festival this year, I’m glad to say that quite a few of the teachers are using the techniques that we do. What we tell them to do is not just make it an item; turn everything you put up there into a presentation. Some are doing it and some are not and I am just hoping that those out there who might be watching this interview to take heed and actually expand the children’s creativity because that’s what we aim for—take them to their fullest. I have been hired by the Ministry of Education to offer to teachers countrywide—both preschool and primary school—classes in drama dance and music. I have Mister Campbell who goes to do the music and Dawn Adderley who does the dance and I do the drama myself and Mister Ledlon does the creative writing when it is requested. What we do in those classes is not only prepare teachers to get students ready for the festival of arts. Actually the thrust of the ministry is to get teachers to teach the expressive arts in schools as a regular subject. That is what we are aiming for because it is in the handbooks of policies of the ministry that the arts must be taught in all schools at least one hour a week. It is amazing what four and three year olds can remember and it is up to us as educators to push them to the full extent of their potential.”

The festival is underway at this time and if you didn’t make it tonight you can catch up on Saturday at nine a.m.