By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
THEY may be far from home in Scotland, but competitors at the 20th Commonwealth Games are not lacking support from the locals. As their project in welcoming the nations to the Games, Glasgow schools were given the opportunity to select a country to follow and to do something special for them.
The Mount Florida Primary School on Cathcart Road, just outside the Hampden Park national stadium, designed four national flags of the Bahamas that they hung on their perimeter fence so that no one could miss them.
From the bus that the athletes, media and dignitaries take to the stadium, you could see the Bahamian flags waving in the cool weather that Glasgow has experienced for the past few days. There was also a pink flamingo hanging next to the flags.
Francis Reid, who operates the after-school care programme at the school, told The Tribune the students had designed the flags before they were let out for the summer vacation. It was their hope that the Bahamians coming to Hampden Park would appreciate their efforts.
“The school was given the Bahamas as the country we had to represent,” she said. “Every primary school in the area was given a school to represent.
“We had a special day with steel drums and dancing and everybody had a chance to find out about the country and your tradition.
“We had a wonderful day in the playground and the parents came out and supported it. It was so good because the students had a chance to demonstrate exactly what they learnt about the Bahamas.”
Mount Florida has more than 260 students from grades one to seven, ranging in age from five to 11. If there was one thing that the children learnt about the Bahamas, Mrs Reid said, it was that the Bahamas has “nice weather and beautiful beaches”.
“We wish that we could have had some of that weather because even though this is the summer for us, it is still nice and cool. The students have all gone off on vacation, but they will remember the experience when they come back.”
At the end of one part of the school, located in the city centre, there is a triangular section around which the traffic traverses. In the middle is a recreational area where the schools have all produced small items on the trees and fences that are on display for all to view.
“We are very happy to welcome the Bahamas to Glasgow,” said Mrs Reid, pointing to a sign on the school fence painted in yellow with the word: “Welcome”.
• See Sports for all the latest Commonwealth Games action.
Comments
killemwitdakno 9 years, 8 months ago
awww
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID