By the end of this academic year, 17 students from the Bethel High School will be graduating from their music classes along with the form five graduates of the school.

During the launching of the music band on Wednesday, Deputy Principal of the school, Keith Glasgow told the students that he was pleased with the number of students that turned up for the audition, where they had a total of 72 students showing up.{{more}}

In 2006, $7000 was donated to the school to purchase equipment and to enhance the music room, which was the first phase of the project.

He however stated that there was a need for further funding for more instruments and a further $8000 was donated to finish equipping the band and for the payment of tutors.

The training program will be an ongoing process, which will be on different levels starting from level one. According to Glasgow, by the time the students are ready to graduate they will be able to read music.

“We believe that the students will benefit from the band and they show a lot of interest in the band,” Glasgow stated.

As of next week, the school’s Heritage Club will be hosting a series of events to commemorate the celebration of Black History month. Each class will be assigned to conduct research on a famous black individual which will be submitted and marked. The coordinating teacher of the Bethel High School Heritage Club, Randy Boucher following the launching of the school musical band, made this announcement.

On the 19th and 20th there will be an exhibition at the school followed by a display of local dishes that will be prepared by the students while at 12 noon, the students will be asked to buy only local lunches on that day. The Black History month will climax on the 28th of this month when the students will be lectured by a representative from the Reparation Movement.

During March, the school’s young leaders program will be launched under the topic “Promoting abstinence among teenagers.” There will also be a sports exhibition and games on that day.

The Young Leaders group will also be hoping to have several teenage mothers in the school visit other schools around the country to speak to the students about the risks involved in having unprotected sex.

For the past five years the school has placed in the top three of the Young Leaders programme.