Here is the behind the scenes of preparation for our annual Carnival Jump up at Holy Name Convent. Each house is expected to produce a band with a theme of their choice. All props and costumes will be made by the girls themselves.
We caught up with the Captain of each house, and take a sneak peek at their work.
St. Dominic
St. Dominic’s – Marie-Claire Barcant, Captain
Are there any challenges that you are facing?
“Yes, definitely. Fundraising is a big problem because we had a mishap with our seamstress, she accidentally gave the original price and that had to come out of our personal funds, which we still have to continue fundraising for, after the band launch, in order to pay it back. Getting girls to participate and donate their $40 , is a little challenge as well.”
What are you doing to encourage the girls to participate?
“Well, in the house meetings we have been saying that it would be a good experience, good memories. You know, you don’t want to come to Holy Name and not have the full Holy Name experience. However, we do get points once they’re there and the numbers have increased slightly.”
St. Catherine
St. Catherine’s – Nicolette Jardine, Vice Captain
Are there any challenges that you are facing?
“The whole thing. It was kind of difficult to get everything organised. If we had more time, I think would have had more stuff done properly. For example, if we were told about this during summer vacation, then we would have been able to start from then, start building costumes and so on.”
What are you doing to encourage the girls to participate?
” Let’s just say I’m very persuasive, as well as the teachers. But, we got it done. We have over 94 girls participating, which isn’t bad and all of our teachers are participating also. Also, we got most of our upper-six girls to come out. It’s been smooth sailings so far and hopefully everything goes great.”
St. Albert
St. Albert’s – Sarah Piango, Captain
“How is the preparation for the houses band coming along?”
“Honestly, it is a work in progress, but we are doing our best and a lot of the girls are helping, which is all that matters. They’re willing to participate so all I can say is that I’m excited and it’s going well.”
“Are there any challenges that you are facing?”
“A lot actually. In terms of participation, while there are a lot of girls that want to participate, there are a lot of girls who do not want to participate and there’s nothing that you can do to motivate them. They just do not want to do it, they miss being with their class. In terms of materials, it’s difficult because it’s the first time we, as a school are doing this. It’s not like we have any guidelines to follow so we’re just going with what we know and what we can do. Sourcing materials can be difficult and raising funds for materials is quite a task, since it’s very expensive.”
“What are you doing to encourage the girls to participate?”
“Well, when I was going up for captain, I said I would offer incentives to make sure that they participate. I know that if you work hard, you want something in return so I’m saying that if the girls come out, participate and show the love for their house that they would get pizza day.”
St. Rose
St. Rose’s – Nyomi Thomas, Captain
How is the preparation for the houses band coming along?
“I think it’s going well. We had a few hiccups. It is still very hectic, we have a lot of issues with people bringing in stuff when they’re supposed to but so far it’s going as planned.”
Are there any challenges that you are facing?
“Yes. Like asking people to bring in their money, they don’t want to bring it. People coming in last minute, now deciding that they want to play like they had some kind of epiphany last night. Also, gathering materials almost every day. It takes a lot of time for me to do that and do school work.”
What are you doing to encourage the girls to participate?
“I try to motivate them to come play with us because it’s fun. Then I told them about the prize that we win and everyone is like ‘Oh yeah, I want to play now!’. Then they see how nice the costumes look and then they want to play. So that’s what I’ve been doing, talking about the prize and how we are the best house.”
Additional Credit: Cherice Williams