BeBlue School Tour Launch
The BlueGreen Initiative Inc. (BGI) continued their mission of educating primary school children about the importance of the marine environment as they launched the Be Blue School Tour at the Blackman and Gollop Primary School.
The initiative, which is sponsored by Sandals Foundation and supported by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy involved the unveiling of a mural in the Guidance Counsellor Office of the Blackman and Gollop Primary School which was designed by Jehmilah Wood.
Wood who is an artist by profession said the mural which was officially opened on March 4th, 2020 by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Blue Economy Sonia Foster, Principal of Blackman and Gollop Primary School Petrona Holder, Director of the BGI Senator Crystal Drakes, as well as representatives from Harris Paints, took her ten weeks to complete and it was her way of letting the children at the school have an underwater experience whilst on the school’s compounds.
“What you are you are going to see is an environment that we created to take you underwater without you having to use an oxygen tank,” she said.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy Sonia Foster implored the student body to be cognizant of the ways in which they can assist with protecting the coral reefs in Barbados.
Foster revealed the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy would be targeting children as they realized primary school students have the zest for ensuring they keep their environment clean.
She added the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy have been making advances to benefit all persons involved in the maritime sector such as the passing of legislation as well as repairing fish markets across the island.
Creative Project Officer of BGI Neil Marshall engaged the students in an interactive session about the role of the coral reefs and the way in which they help to protect our environment.
“The coral reef provides food for not just the sea creatures but food for us. They have large sections of the west coast that have no coral reefs. So, if they have no reefs there is no food for the smaller fish. The reefs are also a natural part of beach protection,” he said.
Marshall showed the students how the coral reefs work by asking five students to stand and protect their Principal Petrona Holder. He explained that each of the children represented a coral and they are responsible for protecting Barbados against natural disasters such as hurricanes.
Creative Director of the BGI Clish Gittens had an interactive session where students received prizes for answering questions about some of the information shared earlier in the evening about the importance of coral reefs correctly.
The students really enjoyed was an interactive session with Nick Hurley who was the persona, Captain Salt. The students eagerly listened to what was said as they wanted to have a look at his scuba diving equipment.
There was also an interactive spoken word performance from award-winning spoken-word artiste Akeem Chandler- Prescod who did his original piece entitled Breath of Life. The students thoroughly enjoyed the piece and at some parts of the poem, they started reciting the choral lines in the piece.
Director of the BlueGreen Initiative, Senator Crystal Drakes presented 100 children’s activity booklets catered to children four-years-old and above entitled My Coral Buddies and Me to the Principal of Blackman and Gollop Primary School Petrona Holder and encouraged the students to learn more about the importance of coral reefs in Barbados.
The Be Blue 2020 School Tour will continue with the BGI team visiting a number of primary schools throughout the island ending in November 2020.
For further information on the Be Blue School Tour contact us at www.bgibb.com or follow us on Instagram and Facebook @bluegreeninitiative.