PHOTOS: Students experience Commonwealth

Photos by Davion Smith/BVI News Online

Waving flags that represent various Caribbean countries in the Commonwealth, students from the Althea Scatliffe Primary School marched today through the streets of Road Town for a pre-Commonwealth Day celebration.

Commonwealth Day will be observed this year on Monday (March 13) under the theme: A Peace-building Commonwealth.

It will be a public holiday here in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

Already basking in the celebratory atmosphere, the aforementioned student drummers this morning led their peers from the Noel Lloyd Positive Action Movement Park to their Station Avenue-based school.

It was apparently a fun affair for them.

They were decked out it colours that represented the Commonwealth countries in the region.

Principal, Marieta Flax-Headley

School principal Marieta Flax-Headley said today’s celebration is also a learning experience for the youngsters.

“The programme for the celebration usually has a theme. Last year, we did flowers of the different Commonwealth countries. This year, we are doing the mottos because it’s the educational part of it. After that, we have a fair on the outside where we sell food from the different countries,” the principal continued.

“The students really do enjoy it. Normally in November we have BVI culture day. So, today, Commonwealth is when we don’t focus on just the BVI; we focus on all the different countries. We have a melting pot here at the school [and] so it’s good that they can come out and really appreciate the cultures from different Caribbean islands as well.”

The Commonwealth is made of 52 States that are mostly United Kingdom-dependencies or former countries of the British empire.

Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean include: Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St Kitts & Nevis, St Vincent & the Grenadines, as well as Trinidad & Tobago.

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