After learning that the song, "God Bless our Sunny Clime" was sung for the first time as the national song of The Bahamas at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in The Bahamas in 1985, elementary students and guests at Lyford Cay International School (LCIS) had an opportunity to listen to the song. Grade six students at LCIS led an assembly to educate the school's student body about The Commonwealth and to celebrate Commonwealth Day.
After spending several weeks learning about inter-governmental agencies in their Program of Inquiry unit entitled, "How We Organize Ourselves" students shared what they had learned with their schoolmates, parents and teachers. "Students learn so much from their peers," said Head of Elementary, Isadora Blyden. "We are so happy to see an assembly like this come together. We all learned so much about the Commonwealth."
Sixth grade students along with their siblings presented flags from each of the 53 Commonwealth countries during their parade of countries. They also presented informational posters on each country to encourage their peers and teachers to learn more about Commonwealth countries. They played the Bahamian National Anthem on steel drums and gave the history of The Commonwealth, as well as outlined the goals of the Commonwealth for their audience.
The Queen's Annual Commonwealth Day message was also read as part of the special assembly. The national champion rake n' scrape band from Gerald Cash Primary school performed and wowed the crowd with two lively rake n' scrape songs and showed everyone assembled why they have been the national champions for four years in a row.
Commonwealth Day is celebrated around the Commonwealth on the second Monday in March every year. The goals of the Commonwealth are friendship, equality, and diversity. The aim of commemorating Commonwealth Day is to promote understanding on global issues, international co-operation and the work of the Commonwealth to improve the lives of its two billion citizens. The world's largest and smallest, richest and poorest countries make up the Commonwealth and are home to two billion citizens of all faiths and ethnicities -- over half of whom are 25 or under. Member countries span six continents and oceans from Africa to Asia, the Americas, Australia, the Caribbean, and Europe.
"Bahamian culture is a vitally important component of our school curriculum," said LCIS principal Stacey Bobo. "We are an international school but we are located in The Bahamas. We welcome every opportunity to share the incredibly rich Bahamian history with all of our students. Our student body is 40 percent Bahamian, and these students are certainly very proud of their culture. I could see the Bahamians in the crowd smile with pride when they heard how instrumental The Bahamas was in the dismantling of South African apartheid. And when the rake n' scrape started, the Bahamian pride was overwhelming!"
As an international school, LCIS exposes students to many worldwide cultures. The school believes in the sharing of culture as it works to transform its students into global citizens. LCIS students participated in Junior Junkanoo and the E. Clement Bethel National Arts Festival. They learn Bahamian social studies as a part of their curriculum, and classes experience the local environment through transformational field trips throughout the Bahamian islands.
LCIS students are exposed to Bahamian cultural building blocks like Junkanoo through The Educulture Junkanoo Museum and Junior Junkanoo; art through various trips to the National Gallery, Transforming Spaces and visits to local artists' studios; and the environment through partnerships with The Island School, BREEF and the Clifton Heritage Park as well as special field trips to San Salvador and Andros. They participate in the Bahamian MUN, and they compete athletically in the Bahamas Football Association (BFA), the Bahamas Scholastic Association (BSA), and the Bahamas Swim Federation (BSF) swim meets. They are involved in many local community service ventures including Hands for Hunger, The Bahamas Humane Society, Operation Potcake, Cans for Kids, YesI (tutoring with LCIS student peers in conjunction with football) Adelaide Primary School, and the Stephen Dillet Primary School Enrichment Program.
LCIS fully supports Bahamian students wanting to apply for local scholarships as well.
"Our IB [International Baccalaureate] curriculum is rigorous but we make sure that all Bahamian students have the opportunity to write local examinations including the BJC's [Bahamas Junior Certificate] and BGCSE's [Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education]," said secondary school guidance counselor Judy Reiach. "This makes them eligible to compete for local scholarships. We do not teach either of the BJC or BGCSE curriculums but we provide special dispensation for those students that want to learn the material and sit the exams."
Despite the fact the these curricula are not taught as part of the daily curriculum, LCIS students have shown consistently excellent results with a 95 percent "A" to "C" grade" pass rate in both national exams.

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