by Iana’ Ferguson,

Head Girl

The Girls’ High School once again surpassed all expectations: this time, with its interpretation of Independence, as the student body, teachers and guests united for the school’s celebrations on Tuesday, October 25, 2016.

As the school’s steel orchestra opened the programme {{more}}with a harmonious rendition of the National Anthem, all was still and at that moment, nature seemed to join with the school in commemorating the nation’s 37th anniversary of Independence.

In her Independence message, headmistress Andrea Bowman displayed great enthusiasm for her country and expressed her excitement about the day’s activities. Following this, those present were treated to a rendition of a myriad of folk songs vocalized by the New Kingstown Chorale. The students were duly impressed with the extensive talent that this group exhibited.

The day’s celebrations were organized around Carnival, one aspect of Vincentian culture that has continued to evolve since the nation gained independence, and the theme for the activities was “A Celebration in Anticipation of our 40th Anniversary of Vincy Mas 2017”.

The featured speaker, Ricky Adams, chair of the Carnival Development Corporation, addressed the school body on the importance of Carnival to our country’s heritage and on its role in society. He stated that our national pride could be shown through passion, innovation, development and energy for cultural activities, such as Carnival and other festivals.

In keeping with the theme, there was an exhibition of some evening gowns worn by former Miss SVG and Miss Carival queens. These were modelled by present GHS students. Several inter-form competitions were held, including a J’Ouvert competition, which gave the girls an opportunity to illustrate their concepts of J’Ouvert in St Vincent and the Grenadines; a T-Shirt competition, which provided an outlet to the students’ creativity and knowledge of our Independence and culture throughout the years; and a song competition.

On a lighter note, students were entertained by the Vita Malt drinking competition, the roast pork eating competition and a baking competition, which ran concurrently with the day’s other activities.

The event-filled day was brought to a close with a final appearance of the GHS Miss Heritage contestants before the show, which took place on Friday, October 28, followed by the steel orchestra’s skillful performance of “This Island is Mine” and other local songs.