Students from all over St. Thomas, close to 300 students and chaperones from sister-island St. Croix, all four V.I. high school bands and athletes from Tortola will all be part of the 65th Annual Carnival Children’s Parade on Friday.
“We want everyone to come out and support our students to show them how much we care about them. They have worked extremely hard and we look forward to seeing the community in large numbers,” Education Commissioner Sharon McCollum said in a statement from the Education Department.
Under the direction of Dionne Donadelle, territorial director of music, the department will showcase entries featuring the three A’s: academics, athletics and the arts.
The Education Department’s engineering and maintenance divisions have constructed floats with themes surrounding cultural education, agriculture and sports. Life-sized characters from books featured in the Governor’s
Summer Reading Challenge will be highlighted, and the department’s anti-litter mascot, Squeaky, will make its official debut, according to Education.
School officials will distribute reusable bags, children’s books and more.
A Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics troupe will perform. Along with the 600 V.I. public school students in the main Education Department entry, individual schools will give presentations.
“Learning, Feting and Fun for the Centennial Celebration,” is the Carnival theme this year. The parade starts at 10 a.m. in downtown Charlotte Amalie.