Regional Government promotes regional celebrations of Europe Day on Santa Maria Island
The Regional Government, through the Office of the Regional Assistant Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations, promotes the regional celebrations of Europe Day on the island of Santa Maria on May 9 with the organisation of various educational and cultural initiatives.
Under the motto of youth and the future of Europe, the programme intends to promote European citizenship and active civic participation, involving citizens and, particularly, young people in European affairs. Moreover, it aims to raise their awareness for the importance of European citizenship and their contribution to the construction of the European project.
The celebrations begin at 10 AM at Santa Maria Basic Education and Secondary School with the initiative "Europe is a party," during which the Hymn of Joy will be performed by middle school students.
There is also an artistic moment to be performed by members of the Activity Occupational Centre of "Santa Casa da Misericórdia" of Vila do Porto (social solidarity institution): the "Thinkers of the European project" mural. In turn, the Day Centre of the aforementioned institution, the Santa Mara Madalena Shelter and the Senior Group will present a mosaic composed of the flags of European Union.
The programme also includes workshops and educational activities for students from the 1st to 5th forms, which will be organised by various entities on Santa Maria. These activities will involve the participation of more than a hundred students and will cover various themes: "Getting to know Europe with AJISM," "Learn with the westernmost Paleopark in Europe," "Toy Workshop - Build your European toy," "Aviation Workshop - Santa Maria: Between Europe and America," "European Institutions," "How to Dress in Europe - Traditional Costumes," "Games of European Union countries," "European Literature" and" Legend of Europe."
An open class will be held at Santa Maria School under the theme "The Azores, Europe and the Future" at the students' lounge at 11:15 AM.
The second moment of the celebrations will take place at Santa Maria Youth Hostel, where the "Traditional costumes of EU countries" exhibition will be open to the public. The costumes were created by Santa Maria Senior Group, Salvaterra - Association for Development and Social Solidarity and Santa Maria Basic Education and Secondary School.
Moreover, two of the four mural works by Santa Maria photographer Pepe Brix will be open outside the Hostel under the "Alma Mater" project.
These public art works portray Santa Maria women, as European citizens, being depicted in three individual works (Vila do Porto, Santo Espírito and Almagreira) and in a collective mural (Vila do Porto). They pay tribute to Santa Maria islanders, especially women, and convey the message that European values are shared by their regions.
The celebration of Europe Day in the Region includes, for the third time, "Street of Europe" initiative, involving the participation of municipalities from the nine islands of the archipelago. It includes the placing of the 28 flags of Member States and the European Union on a street at the choice of local authorities.
This initiative, which runs until May 10, aims to arouse the curiosity of citizens for the event celebrated on May 9 and involve municipalities in the celebrations.
In turn, the multimedia contest under the theme "Young People, Europe and the Future," an initiative directed to secondary school and vocational training school students in the Region, continues to be an important component of Europe Day celebrations. The best works at regional level will be posted Regional Government's YouTube Channel and on the Facebook page of the Office of the Regional Assistant Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations.
The winning team will be awarded a trip to Brussels and their video will be broadcast on RTP/Açores on May 9, while the team placed in second will receive a set of 10 books for the school library and an InterJovem card for each member of the team. In turn, the team placed in third will receive a set of five books and also an InterJovem card for each member.
All finalist team members will receive a book as a participation prize.
The 1st Regional Literary Contest - Narratives about Europe on the theme "Young People, Europe and the Future" also falls within the celebration programme of Europe Day and runs until May 9, the deadline for submission of stories on this subject. The winner will have his/her work adapted to a dramatic text that will be later staged by a regional theatre group, besides winning a trip to Brussels.