The Children’s House division of Somersfield Academy celebrated Bermuda Day on Friday, May 22, with a parade and mini marathon.

This year’s Bermuda Day event was the best that Somersfield has hosted so far and was a sight to behold. We had a record number of attendees, including parent and student spectators, steel pan music from our talented MYP students and music teacher, and live commentary during the race from a very enthusiastic P1 student!

We had six parade floats, each individually created by students and teachers, more majorettes and Gombeys than ever before, and a new St George’s to Hamilton marathon route that each age group separately competed in.

The school’s Bermuda Day festivities started about four years ago during our annual study of Bermuda. One of the Children’s House classes was learning about the Island’s culture and traditions, and the teachers quickly discovered that there were very few students in the class that had ever been to the island’s annual Bermuda Day Parade.

In response, the teachers decided to hold a mock Bermuda Day Parade that same year and gathered support from the other Children’s House classrooms. The PE teachers also joined in the fun and decided to add an extra element by having the students run in a mock mini marathon. They set up cones on the western end of the field, travelling east in a similar direction of the traditional route from Dockyard to town. This included having the children run over our baseball mound, pretending it was Burnt House Hill. What fun!

In that first year, we had all of the Children’s House students dressed as majorettes or Gombeys, and paraded through the Primary assembly for students and teachers to see. In subsequent years, we have improved on our festivities, including adding class floats and entertainment, including festival music and Gombey beats being played by drummers.

When asked what they liked best about Bermuda Day at Somersfield Academy and the events leading up to it, Nylan Tyrrell, a P1 student said: “I liked wearing my Gombey troupe costume and leading my class out in the parade.”

Heidi Paulos, who is also a P1, said: “I loved it when I got to see my mommy and daddy cheering me on.”

Second year student Sydney Troake said: “I liked painting my cape and wearing my majorette mask.”

Four-year-old Nora Ferris said: “It was fun painting the flowers for my class float.”

We are so proud of where we started four years ago and look forward to even more fun and excitement next year. Our students can now say that they have indeed experienced a true Bermuda tradition. Aye-Oh!