Inside King's-Edgehill School
Meet Aimee Cooper, a Grade 12 IB Diploma student and KES Prefect from Nassau, Bahamas. Aimee is an active leader in our School community and a passionate volunteer. Capitalizing on the importance of Black History Month, Aimee gave an informative presentation on African-Caribbean culture for the Junior School in Assembly this past Wednesday. She highlighted her vibrant Caribbean lifestyle and the festivals and celebrations of her home and region. She taught us about the popular Junkanoo festival, a Bahamian cultural celebration featuring spectacular costumes, dance and music. Aimee explained that the Junkanoo festival originally was named after John Canoe, a legendary and rebellious West African chief. In the time of slavery, Christmas time was the only free time the slaves had, so they used this time to express jubilation for this respite from their lives of captivity. The tradition remains to this day with modern celebrations of 
freedom taking place on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day in the Caribbean. Aimee also emphasized the importance of a variety of musical genres that play an important role in her culture, including calypso, reggae, jazz, rap and modern music. She highlighted the transcendent and lasting power of trailblazing musicians like Bob Marley, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong whose powerful influences continue to provide enjoyment, empowerment and motivation to this day. The Junior School is grateful to Aimee for enriching us all with a greater awareness of and appreciation for Caribbean culture. We look forward to further learning opportunities as we feature Black History Month at King’s-Edgehill School.Want a better picture of what it’s like to be a student at King’s-Edgehill School? Our photojournals will walk you through a typical day for Day Students and for Boarding Students. Download yours now for a peek at one day as a KES student.
