MALVERN, St. Elizabeth:
BETHLEHEM MORAVIAN College continues to impress on its students, the need to remain culturally aware with the staging of yet another Cultural Day at the institution on Friday.
The staging of the event which is a requirement by the Ministry of Education and Culture was the second of its kind over the past three months, having observed its first in November last year.
Pearline Williams Acting Vice-Principal for Administra-tion at the college told The Gleaner that the event fitted in well as part of the institution's observance of "Black History Month."
She noted that the observance of Cultural Day is a good way of reminding the students there of some of the things of the past and efforts were being made to ensure that this is done.
She said that many young persons needed to be reminded of the past and the Cultural Day was doing a good job to ensure that it is a reality.
The Acting Vice Principal also noted that many of our young people are unaware of some of the elements of our culture and history which have assisted us in overcoming the shackles of the past, creating in all this a society based on harmony and respectful co-existence and they needed to be informed. Hence the staging of such events in the college.
Students in particular, especially primary education students who will be going out into the islands primary and all age schools had much to do with the presentation which took place on Friday, February 21 in the college's quadrangle, under the theme, "Celebrating the Elderly".
They were watched by hundreds of students from other faculties during their lunch break and they showed that they also appreciated the presentations, which included dances, poems and singing. All in the crowd on hand cheered loudly when a Revival group made their presentation and from all indication that was the highlight of the Cultural Day activities.
A dance done by a group of first year Primary Education students was also well received by the large crowd on hand. They danced to the well-known Bob Marley's "Redemption Song". It was noticeable that a large photograph of the Hon. Bob Marley took centre stage on the plat form near the Administrative office at the school.
There were other photos on the wall nearby, including that of Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Marcus Garvey, Louise Bennett and a number of other well known persons of the past.
Poems were done from the Honourable Louise Bennett's collection.
To top off the day's activities, students and staff members were treated to a lunch which had a high Jamaican flavour and that too was well received by all.
Members of the Music Department as well as members of the catering staff there supported the Cultural Day activities.
The catering staff provided an array of delicious dishes, including sweet potato pudding, bread pudding, jerked chicken and pork, rice and peas, fried fish and tossed vegetables. There was also the well-known lemonade, made with Jamaican brown sugar.
All are looking forward to the next staging of Cultural Day, which from all indications promises to be even better. Friday's staging was the final presentation for this academic year.
