Reading, aerobics, bookmark making, quizzes on spelling . . . you name it.

Schools have been a hive of activity as Heritage Month sees youngsters taking full advantage of a host of special programmes. Some students, such as those from Paget Primary, even went overseas for Heritage Month activities.

May is both Heritage Month and Literacy Month at Southampton Glebe Primary School and teachers have combined the two in a series of events including a Read-a-Thon and storytelling.

On May 1, Students from Primary 3 through 6 took part in a Read-in/Sleep-in with fun activities like aerobics, bookmark making, and storytelling were alternated with quiet reading to oneself.

The evening was divided into half-hour blocks. Aerobics instructor Renee Lambert conducted a dance aerobics session for more than 75 students, parents, and school staff.

Stories were read by Mrs. Alberta Dyer-Tucker and Pastor El Lambert. The evening's activities went on past midnight.

Southampton Glebe's Read-a-Thon is a competition between the houses and students must produce a book report to prove they have actually read the book.

"We have two huge thermometers which show the progress they're making,'' headmistress Eunice Jones said.

Other events have included visits by storyteller Florenz Maxwell, parish constable P.c. Donville Yarde, and artist Sharon Wilson.

Ms Wilson's visit centred around the process of writing, illustrating, and publishing a book.

Mrs. Jones said the students were very interested because most had read "The Day Gogo went to Vote'' which was illustrated by Ms Wilson and centred on the day black South Africans voted for the first time.

Events culminate in a special assembly on May 28 when the winning house is announced.

Heritage Month activities at Paget Primary school centred around the visit to Nashville, Tennessee's America Sings Workshop.

Forty seven students in the choir and 16 parents and teachers went to Nashville, a hotbed of country and gospel music.

The America Sings workshop took place over two days and the Paget Primary students were the first foreign participants. The event has grown to include more than 3,500 singers.

Following the Tennessee visit, the group went to Atlanta, Georgia and performed at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the family church of Nobel Peace Prize winner Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

They also visited the King Memorial and saw the eternal flame in King's memory.

Other events at the school include a visit by storyteller Ruth Thomas and Grandparents Day for the infants school on May 27.

Heron Bay Primary School will hold a non-competitive fun sports day in June to replace a rained out event in early May.

On Thursday, the school held a Young Author's Tea in which students prepared books about their lives or other topics.

The books were presented to grandparents and other senior citizens over tea at the school.

Spice Valley Middle School has had a slew of special Heritage Month activities including quizzes on spelling, identifying old Bermudians and places.

The band paid a visit to St. Brendan's Hospital to entertain patients there and this week the Spice Valley Dancers performed at Harbour Nights in Hamilton.

Students have also interviewed their grandparents (or anyone over 50-years -old) and have produced portfolios and booklets about old Bermuda.

The school will also be visited by American speaker and cultural historian Anthony Browder and his daughter Atlantis Tye.

Clearwater Middle School will be hosting a Heritage Jazz Show on May 28 and 29 at 7 p.m. Several of the East End primary schools including St. David's Primary, St. George's Primary and East End Primary will attend the show.

Written by John Jacobson and Kirby Shaw, the show promises to feature jazz "with a Bermudian twist''. Tickets are $20 for patrons, $10 for adults and $5 for students.

Students at Elliott Primary simulated a Bermuda Day Parade earlier in the month, complete with a Ms Bermuda and Ms Unity.

"The students are being encouraged to take an active role in Heritage Month by making connections through music and art,'' explained Elliott headmistress Beverly Daniels. Elliot students also researched their genealogy and participated in Spell-a-Thons with Bermudian themes.

Students at Prospect Primary had the opportunity to interact with living heritage recently at their annual Salute to Seniors Tea.

In a similar vein, Francis Patton students sang and danced at a Grandparent's Day celebration. The overall theme was "Bermuda: Land, Sea, Air, and Its People''.

Each year level took an interdisciplinary approach to learning about local heritage; P1 studied Bermuda homes, P2 studied Bermuda's currency, P3 concentrated on transport in the past and present, P4 learned about Bermuda's Forts, P5 studied Aviation in the past and present, and P6 learned about local sports in the past and present.

Northlands headmaster Dale Butler promoted education about local heroes yesterday (SAT) at a `Sir' Stanley Burgess Day celebration.

And Harrington Sound Primary's PTA sponsored a barbecue and a "Quarter-ama: Linking our Landscape with Longtails'' Wednesday night. The students measured the school with quarters while sponsors had to guess how many quarters were used.