May Queen competition at Nelson St Girls’

Nelson St Girls RC, Port of Spain hosted its fifth annual May Queen competition Friday, May 12 at the school. It was part of the school’s emphasis on developing “positive young ladies” through various programmes and events. A mother-daughter fashion show was incorporated into the competition, celebrating the mother-daughter bond ahead of the Mother’s Day celebration on Sunday, May 14.

Sixteen girls from the Standard Two to Standard Four classes took part in the competition which had four segments: introduction of participants, sportswear, talent, formal wear/interview.

May Queen is intended to help the girls develop self-confidence and tenacity to achieve their goals. “We want them to learn to develop poise throughout the competition, stage presence speaking in front the crowd, develop character, a quality of grace under pressure because in life, they must learn no matter what, never give up,” Catholic News was informed.

Through friendly competition, it was hoped the girl’s developed sportsmanship, whatever the final results and a positive attitude toward other competitors.

In welcome remarks for the competition, Principal Lisa Hinds-Lynch said after the exigencies of the Covid-19 pandemic, she was sure they were happy to all be together celebrating “the poise, the confidence, the talent and the resilience of our young ladies”. She asked the audience to applaud them.

The competition is always held in May, the month dedicated to Mother Mary. “The best thing we can hope for in our school is that our children, they will imitate all the wonderful virtues of our Mother Mary,” Hinds-Lynch said.

The talent segment showcased singing, poetry recitation, dance and gymnastics. Some girls were a little more comfortable on stage but all pushed through with their performances. The interview segment challenged them with questions such as: ‘What do you think is the worse problem we are experiencing in T&T and speak of ways we can improve it’; ‘If you had a magical power, what would you do with it?’; ‘If you were Prime Minister of T&T, what would you do first to make our country a better place?’.

At the end of the segments, Standard Four pupil, 10-year-old, Dajournae Ochoa was crowned queen, second was 11-year-old Zahra Fereira and third, Janae Sanderson, also 11 years. There were prizes for best sportswear, best

interview, best talent. Prizes were also given to top the mothers and daughters in the fashion show and best-dressed attendee.