DRESSED in their bandana outfits, the pupils of Jamaica House Basic School, St Andrew, marked Culture Day Thursday by celebrating Jamaica’s national heroes and heritage.

The celebration was done through songs, poetry and dance and saw the bunch of three to six-year-olds performing for their parents and teachers.

Principal Veronica Parkinson-Burnett said while the school has always observed National Heroes’ Day, a suggestion was made by teachers last year to broaden the scope to include all aspects of Jamaican culture and heritage.

“So last year we decided that since they are doing it, we’ll have one class dressed as Chinese, one dressed as Indians, one dressed as Africans and the remaining pupils will wear bandana as usual, and it was well received,” Parkinson-Burnett told the

Jamaica Observer before the start of the day’s activities.

She stated that last year the parents, especially, loved the idea and readily bought the outfits and props needed for the celebrations, while the added participation of a student teacher of Indian descent helped to pull the event together. Parkinson-Burnett added that they tried to replicate last year’s celebrations.

“So we asked that they dressed as Indians, Chinese and Africans and so on because we are really Jamaicans and it’s our heritage, our culture as we are out of many, one people. So we have the pupils now performing cultural items so it will make them more aware of what is happening. We are not just eating, but showing where our culture comes from, where our dance comes from, where our food comes from and our African heritage as well,” she explained.

She lamented the dying of aspects of Jamaican culture, relating one incident in which the children could not identify an enamel mug, a popular teacup many years ago. She said this strengthened the school’s resolve to reinforce and maintain the island’s culture and that the current curriculum for the five-year-olds has helped greatly in this effort.

“The celebrations will enlighten them more, they will learn more about the different persons living in Jamaica, they will learn more about our Jamaican culture, they’ll be doing items that bring out the Jamaican dance, the food, more so the different types of food, so they know it’s not just rice and chicken, but we have rundown and we have duckunoo,” Parkinson-Burnett explained.

The morning session, which was chaired by culture co-coordinators and teachers, Keriah Evans and Alesia Burnett-Salmon, started off with three-year-old K1E students performing the popular folk song,

Long time gyal, me neva see yuh. Other performances included a tribute to Marcus Garvey in song, a rendition of Louise Bennett’s poemNewSchoolas, and the folk songSolas Market.

The celebration ended with the singing of the National Anthem before pupils were led back to their classes.