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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com Community
Nassau, The Bahamas – ALIV has successfully completed the production of its first ever “Believe in Best Art Competition” mural at the St. Cecilia’s Catholic School, officially unveiling the piece during a ceremony Monday (April 23) on school premises. ALIV’s educational mission is to support advancement through the use of innovation and technology while focusing on the S.T.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) pillars. St. Cecilia’s was also the first school to join ALIV’s Schools Plus Program back in September of 2017. During the ceremony on Monday, ALIV Brand & Inventory Champion Anissa Adderley spoke to those in attendance about ALIV’s commitment to the promotion and the advancement of education through various mediums. “The Believe in Best Art Competition serves as an outlet for students to express themselves visually and provide a real-life experience of the possibilities that exists in the arts. The purpose of the competition is to bring awareness to the importance of art education. The art competition promotes teamwork, exploration and the sharing of ideas and opinions. We believe in empowering the next generation and we are giving them the opportunity to believe in themselves by creating this platform for them.”
Member of Parliament (MP) for St. Barnabas and Chairman of the Public Parks and Beaches Authority Shanendon Cartwright said the initiative from ALIV is so timely and the “Believe in Best” theme is so profound. “This initiative that focuses on the arts is important because all forms of art and communication are important to the development of all of us as individuals. I also want to emphasize to all of you today that as you think about your dreams and aspirations understand that it starts with you and the belief in yourself, the belief in the possibilities of what you can achieve, and the support of your parents, teachers and friends. Congratulations to St. Cecilia’s and ALIV.” Over the weekend the winners, third grade students Caliea Taylor and Rihanna Evans along with peers, teachers, parents, ALIV staff and other volunteers came together to complete the mural in time for the official unveiling ceremony. The mural took five days from beginning to end and was done by Avenii Johnson, Giovanni Errisson-Johnson.
The competition was launched back in December 2017 and allowed students at all participating schools – St Cecilia’s and St. John’s College - to form teams of two to four to present a painting that represents what they “Believe In”. The winning art piece will then be enlarged and placed on a space of their choosing on the school’s campus. ALIV also rewarded the art program at the school with a $1,000 and Virtual Reality Goggles which they continue to use and learn from. Special thanks go to St. Cecilia’s Catholic School Principal Denise Louis, Art Teacher Candice King, The Paint Place, The National Art Gallery and the Catholic School Board of Education for their assistance throughout the process. Meanwhile in keeping with educational partnerships that step outside the realm of traditional education, five schools participated in the 2017/2018 LEGO Tournament - St. John’s College, The T.G Glover Primary School Aquabots, Woodcock Primary School Aqua Dynamic Stars, The Lyford Cay International School Dragons and The Martin Town Primary School Knights (Freeport). The challenge this year tasked teams with figuring out how to find, transport, use or dispose of water. The Bahamas FIRST LEGO League Challenge Director, Laurena Finlayson said having ALIV as a corporate sponsor was incredibly crucial as without corporate sponsors generally, the competition would not be possible. “I think it’s important for us to have these kinds of tournaments for students because it introduces them to STEM, Science Technology Engineering and Math and it opens their minds to other possibilities of career paths. The tournament is only made possible by corporate sponsors worldwide so being able to have ALIV as a sponsor is vital as it tremendously helps us put the tournament on which opens our students to better opportunities of achieving scholarships in those areas.” Host school, T.G Glover Primary School Aquabots walked away as this year’s overall winner.
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