G/T Children’s Mash prelims conclude on colourful note

Feb 12, 2010 News

---

By Mondale Smith

Though there is obvious room for improvements in some areas at the school level, after four days of high energy competition, the Georgetown Education District Mashramani preliminaries concluded with much flair at the National Cultural Centre.
Probably the most colourful of four days of rivalry, yesterday the youths individually, and in groups, zeroed in on issues such as climate change, low carbon development, preservation of marine life and the legends of beautiful Guyana.
But amidst the many intricate and sometimes thought-provoking displays, it was apparent that the participants in the senior categories have dramatically dwindled. That aside, yesterday there were more than 29 entrants in the nursery schools’ individual and group categories, which saw tots dancing and prancing across the stage in merriment.
Some were serious about competing and were very much in touch and tune with the rhythm of the infectious soca musical accompaniment. But others in the minority had to be prompted and encouraged by the teachers from behind the curtains.
One of the little ones was filled with excitement about competing while backstage, but when she stepped on stage she froze and dropped the costume.
That fear was shortlived as she soon got into the swing of things with coaxing from an adult. Such was the spirit of the day’s activities.
Deshawna Evans of the East Street Nursery took home the fantasy category trophy for her display of ‘El Dorado and the sparkle of its Joy.’ It was Antoine Herod’s topical portrayal of ‘A step ahead of Climate Change’ which catapulted Head Start Nursery to being Georgetown’s representative at the National competition.
And celebratory screams were proof that Happy Hearts Nursery group deserved the first prize trophy for their topical display of ‘Celebrating our heritage’.
The entrants were few for the age 5-7 individual costumes category, but their messages were clear that children should be children and their imaginations are vivid. On the topical front, Ketley Primary’s ‘Queen of the botanic’ displayed by Sileina Fredericks proved the better of two entries. The other was St Andrew’s Primary student Tiffany Mc Kenzie with her school’s ‘Saving our forest’.
Of the three schools that entered the fantasy category Winfer Gardens’ Tia Lane as ‘Queen of love’ copped the first place trophy.
In the 8-10 category there were many compelling messages, but in the end it was North Georgetown Primary’s Aliya Hoppie’s display of ‘Living our heritage in a diverse community’ that won. The lone Fantasy category entry in that age group was Winfer Gardens’ ‘The Beauty of Angels and Joy they bring’ which was displayed by Crystel Johnson. ‘Living our heritage in a diverse community’ also took top honours in the 8-10 group event in the Topical category.
As the competition continued, of the four topical category entrants in the 11-13 years individual costume displays, Ketley Primary’s Kennisha Halley’s colourful outfit and energetic stage manoeuvres in ‘Back to basics in a low Carbon Era’ sealed victory.
She was closely followed by the display of ‘princess of the band’ out of Rama Krishna Primary. In the fantasy category, Shanice Rose of Winfer Gardens Primary continued her annual winning costume showcase display, which this time around was titled ‘an academic dream for a brighter tomorrow.’
Hers was one of the more carnival influenced golden costumes that showcased that even at the youth level the Mashramani offerings can be professionally done.
There were only two entries for the group showcase in the age 11-13 costumes category and Ketley Primary was the better of them for their ‘Back to Basics in a Low Carbon Era’ topical portrayal.
Moving to the 14-17 years costume displays there was great disappointment as many were in high expectations of seeing more costumes but there were only five entrants, of which three were topical and two were fantasy.
They focused on themes such as ‘Magnificence-Waterfall,’ ‘moulding our nation’s children to support our diverse heritage’ and ‘Red Dragon Fly’ but in the end Dolphin Secondary’s ‘the Alien Red Dragon’ displayed by Gary Nurse, which proved the best fantasy costume. ‘Guyana on the move’ showcased by Juela Adams of East Ruimveldt Secondary won the topical category.
Dolphin Secondary school’s ‘the alien red dragon’ teamed up with ‘the Dragon fly’ in the 14-17-group fantasy category to walk away with the first place trophy.
There were three entrants in the topical category in the 14-17 years group costume competition and Cummings Lodge Secondary was the best of the lot with their presentation of ‘Moulding our Nation’s Children to support our diverse Heritage’.

---

---