BELIZE CITY, Wed. Sept. 11, 2019– World Literacy Day is held annually in the first week of September to highlight the changes and improvements made worldwide in literacy development and on the issues surrounding adult literacy and child literacy.

Literacy Day was celebrated in Belize on Friday, September 6, this year and St. Martin De Porres RC School, located on Partridge Street, held many activities to celebrate the day.

Roxana Encalada, who is the Literacy Coach at St. Martin De Porres, said that they celebrated Literacy Day this year under the theme “Read and Write to Succeed; Mentor a Child.” She said that the theme is displayed in every lower division class from Infant classes to Standard 2.

The Literacy Day activities began with a church service. After the service, teachers read to the students and questions were asked to check the students’ comprehension and memory, after which the students went to their respective classrooms, where they were called to read aloud in front of the class.

They did Phonics Phonemic Awareness, and drawing and coloring, including the coloring of the Belize Flag. The children were engaged all day in different literacy activities.

Encalada said that there is a robust literacy program at the school, and that Literacy Day is just one activity they conduct, among many others. There are frequent assessments to ensure that they are progressing from one level to another.

Also, as part of their literacy program, the school has an open day. The emphasis at the school is literacy, and they want to build the reading and writing skills of the students because literacy is the key to succeed in life.

All teachers of the school’s lower division ensure that the students are reading and pronouncing words properly.