Creativity was on show at yesterday’s continuation of the Children’s Mashramani Competition as students from nursery to secondary took to the centre of the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall to compete in displaying their Mash costumes.
The event once again opened with the nursery school pupils, whose pieces were judged under two categories: fantasy and topical. For the individual segment, under Fantasy, Afia James of Sherman’s Nursery School took away the first prize trophy, with her depiction of “Queen of the Waterways” (with blue, white and silver as her main colours); while Alvin Adolphus of St Christopher Nursery (“The Beauty of Royalty”) and Omar Edmonson of Head Start Nursery (“Super-Blue – The legend”) gained second and third positions, respectively.
In the Topical category, it was Alexander Village Nursery’s Antwone Meyer’s who gained the judges’ approval for first position with his “Friendly Waters”, while Happy Hearts’ Tandika Vyfhuis (“Champion of the Earth”) and Head Start Nursery’s Joanna Primo (“United for a Better Guyana) took second and third places, respectively.
In the Group segment, under Fantasy, Sherman’s Nursery gained first position with “People at the Water World”, while Head Start Nursery (“Super-Blue – The Legend”) was second and South Ruimveldt Park Nursery (“Fairies around the Window”) fell to third.
In the Topical category, East Street Nursery copped first place with “Our Conservation”, Head Start Nursery (“United for a Better Guyana”) once again took the second place trophy, and Alexander Village Nursery (“Friendly Waters”) came in third.
The next group of entries to follow was the 5-7 Individual and Group segments. Under Individual Fantasy, St. Gabriel’s Shania Culpepper captured the first place trophy for her very realistic looking “The Little Mermaid in a Shell” entry, while Ketley Primary fell to second with their depiction of “Hannah Montana Goes to Mash 2011”. There was no third place winner for this category as well as for the Topical.
Under Individual Topical, Ketley Primary once again gained second place with “One People, One Culture, One Destiny in 2011”, while St Ambrose Primary’s Jahiem Carmichael (“A Flash in Time”) won the first place trophy.
In the 5-7 Group segment, under Fantasy there was only one winner and that first place position went to Smith Memorial Primary with their presentation of “Mr. and Mrs. El Dorado – The City of Gold”. Under Topical, St. Ambrose again was first with their black and silver depiction of a camera, titled “A Flash in Time”. Coming in second was Ketley Primary again with “One People, One Culture, One Destiny in 2011”.
Next in line were the 8-10 Individual and Group entries, under the same two categories. In the Individual category, under Fantasy, Kureece King of North Georgetown Primary wowed the crowd and earned the judges’ approval for first position with her golden presentation titled, “Queen of Queens”. Coming in second and third positions were Snayi Johnny of Winfer Gardens Primary (“Queen of Colours in a Circle”) and Nishanta Shepherd of South Ruimveldt Park Primary (Shrek’s Amazing World”), in that order. In the [8-10] Individual Topical category, Ketley Primary’s Shania Meertins walked away with the first place trophy for her white, tinged with light blue, presentation titled “The Goddess of Peace”. Coming in second place was “El Dorado – A Rainbow of Hope” presented by Linda Harris of St. Ambrose Primary, while Otecia Fraser of St. Pius Primary (“Blending Our Culture”) fell to third.
In the Group Fantasy segment, North Georgetown Secondary got another first place prize for their “Queens of Culture” presentation, which featured queens of various backgrounds, accordingly dressed. In second and third positions were St. Angela’s Primary (“Pink Petals – Beautiful Together”) and St. Stephen’s Primary (“Mashing with Our Animal Friends”), respectively. In the Topical Group category, coming in first place was Smith Memorial Primary with their slavery boat depiction of “From Where We Came”, and following in second was Ketley Primary with “Goddess of Peace”, while St. Ambrose Primary’s “El Dorado – A Rainbow of Hope” came in third.
The next group of entries was the 11-13 Individual and Group. Under Fantasy, Richard Ishmael Secondary was the only participant; therefore their presentation titled “Dawn of a New Day” earned them the winning trophy. Under Topical, in first position was Marian Academy’s “Queen Ah de Hill”, while Rama Krishna Primary (“Our Side of Culture and Pride”) and Stella Maris Primary (“Surviving the Demolition”) came in second and third, respectively.
Then came the intense competition with the 14-17 years Individual and Group entries. In the Individual Fantasy category, Mae’s School’s realistic looking “Massacura Man” grabbed first place, while Dolphin Secondary with “Zoo-Zum-Ba” and Richard Ishmael Secondary (“Guardian of the Water”) earned second and third positions, respectively. In the Topical category, Cummings Lodge Secondary’s Rishandra Stephenson, with her presentation titled “Fortifying our Culture, Educating Our Nation in 2011” took home the winning trophy, while Crystal Gibson of Ascension Secondary (“Splendor of the Amazon”) and Ryan Bacchus of Freeburg Secondary (“Culture Pot”) took second and third places, respectively.
In the [14-17] Group Fantasy category, Richard Ishmael Secondary’s lone entry (“Guardian of the Water”) automatically placed them in first position. Under Topical, Cummings Lodge Secondary (“Fortifying Our Culture, Education Our Nation in 2011”) once more gained first place, while Ascension Secondary (“Splendor of the Amazon”) and Charlestown Secondary (“Low Carbon Development Strategy”) earned second and third places, respectively.
Coordinator of this year’s Children’s Mashramani Competition – Georgetown Division, Jennifer Chapman said that their hope for this year’s competition is for “things to come off smoothly” despite the vast number of entries. She said that they are satisfied so far with the results of this year’s competition, and she expressed her gratitude to everyone who assisted or took part in some way or other.
Chapman observed that from last year to now the number of entries in the competition has increased greatly. Meanwhile, the Physical Display segment of the Children’s Mashramani Competition 2011 is set for today at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
