PHILIPSBURG--A group of about 1,400 pupils and teachers painted the streets of Philipsburg red, white and blue for a grand pre-St. Maarten/St. Martin Day Public Schools Parade on Thursday.
The parade was preceded by a programme held at the St. Maarten Festival Village. The programme included games, dance and entertainment by local group Red Eye Crew (REC).
Chairman of the coordinating committee educator Charles-Constant Rollan of the Leonald Conner School told The Daily Herald that the pre-St. Maarten Day Public Schools parade had been “a great, great success,” based on the number of pupils and teachers who participated, the support received from parents and many businesses who contributed to making this event a success.
He said, while the parade began a tad late, it went fairly smooth and pupils appeared to have enjoyed it very much as the importance of culture and unity was instilled in them. “We started a little late and because of that we’ve had no other choice but to speed up the programme.”
Participating in the parade and the programme were the Leonald Connor Primary School, Dr. Martin Luther King Primary School, Oranje Primary School, Marie Genevieve de Weever Primary School and the Ruby Labega Primary School.
For the parade the group of pupils, teachers as well as parents and guardians who assisted assembled at the Festival Village. The parade procession left the Village, walked along University Boulevard, turned right onto the Walter Nisbeth Road, left at utilities company GEBE, down to Oranje Primary School, left onto Front Street, walked to the end of the Front Street, passed the Vineyard Building, turned at the roundabout and returned to the starting point at the St. Maarten Festival Village.
Rollan said everything possible was done to ensure that the event ran as smooth as possible. He said the goal was to have pupils understand the full meaning and purpose of this activity which is to bring them together for fellowship, to foster unity amongst public schools and to reinforce love for the island and leave a positive impact on all.
The event was themed: “I Love St. Maarten,” which was depicted on the t-shirts of participating pupils.
1,400 paint streets red, white, blue for pre-St. Maarten Day parade (2)
