AMBASSADOR FÊTES TOP SPANISH STUDENTS IN REGION

Last week the four Jamaican students who were among the 2013 top ten CXC performers in Spanish in the Caribbean region were fêted to a special evening at the Residence of the Spanish Ambassador, H.E. Celsa Nuño.

The Ambassador and her husband Alex Crowther invited the students and their teachers, along with other guests, to the screening of the award-winning black and white film “Blancanieves”, a striking, visually stunning Spanish feature written and directed by Pablo Berger.

Although the story draws on the Brothers Grimm and the legend of Snow White, it is anything but a children’s movie. It is a full-bodied silent film of the sort that might have been made by the greatest directors of the 1920s.

Once upon a time there was a little girl who had never known her mother. She grew up learning the art of her father, a famous bullfighter, but was despised by her evil stepmother. One day she ran away with a troupe of dwarves, and became a legend.

The evening, under a beautiful full moon, was a success as the audience enjoyed the special experiences and dimensions that a silent movie offers.

As another aspect of the commitment to support and encourage the teaching and learning of Spanish, last Friday the Ambassador handed over 21 scholarships worth JD 1 million on behalf of The Spanish-Jamaican Foundation to aspiring Spanish teachers at a ceremony held at Shortwood Teachers’ College in the presence of the Hon. Rev Ronald Thwaites, Minister of Education.