No fewer than 32 private and public schools participated in the fifth edition of the Hands & Minds Schools competition at the Dome, David Christian Centre, in the Amuwo-Odofin area of Lagos State.
At the end of the competition, the 32 students won various prizes, which include fans, printers, televisions and other things.
The event, themed “Beauty in Diversity,” and sponsored by microfinance giant, Grooming Centre, saw over 500 pupils in attendance, with representatives of 27 schools participating in dance, music and creative art competitions.
Three schools made it to the podium in each category, with the winners, first runners-up and second runners-up taking home flat-screen televisions, printers and table fans respectively, both in the senior and junior levels.
Co-founders of Hands & Minds educational consult, Mr. Laurence Ekpe and Iziegbe Ekpe shed more light on the essence and growth of the competition over the years.
“At H&M Consult, we believe in holistic education. We are quite aware that there are a lot of platforms that reward children for academic excellence, but we know that there are children whose talents are not limited to the classrooms, they have the arts and creatives in them, yet there are not a lot of platforms for them to showcase or harness their talents.
“We know the spelling bees are out there, we know the mathematics competitions are out there, but we wanted to create room for children to showcase their natural talents in dance, music and creative arts. We have done this to reward both the children and the schools for grooming them by paying attention to co-curriculum and extracurricular activities.
“We started with two schools at the inception of this competition in 2017, but this year, we have a total of 32 schools in attendance and 27 participating in the various competitions. We thank Grooming Center, who have shown great support for this vision over the years, and we are sincerely grateful for their partnership,” said the Ekpes.
Meanwhile, character and values coach, Uncle Sele, played a major role as one of the judges at the event. He was joined by music educator, David Igbineweka, and Little Miss Rainbow beauty pageant founder, Preere Opuofoni.
St. Jude’s Private School emerged as overall winners of the music competition in the senior category, followed by Cornerstone College in second place and the Brains Premier College as second runner-up, while Cedars-world Montessori primary school came first in the junior category.
In the dance and drama competition, Above all Schools clinched the top spot in the junior category with a superb choreographic performance, while Goodness Schools won the senior category.
In the creative arts competition, Peculiar Treasure Primary School bagged the top prize in the junior category, while St. Jude’s Private School won the senior category.
Other schools that made a podium finish as well as a few others at the event include; Clemmy High School, Caleb International School, Christ the King Primary School, Preserved Generation School, Pasture Gate Montessori School, Ostra Height School, among others.
Dignitaries from the Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Council graced the occasion, including the Supervisor for Education, Bimpe Doherty. She was joined by the coordinator, national youth Council, Comrade Esho Olakunle; the Senior Special Adviser to the local government Chairman on Youth and Sports, Toluwase Moyinoluwa; and the Special Adviser to the Chairman on Environment, Shodipo Saheed.