The Old Jamaican Road
(Reunion 2008)

Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Just yesterday it would have been good morning boys and girls...............but yesterday is more than 30yrs ago.....for some of us more than 35yrs ago.

A long and interesting journey.....

In September, 1969 an important change occurred in Jamaica... several new secondary schools were opened and Green Island Junior Secondary as it was then called was one such. Education opportunities were immediately created that hitherto did not exist......

Prior to that time there were few high schools and a number of all-age schools which took children from 6yrs old to age 15 yrs old. Many boys and girls did not stay in school until age 15yrs old and even the few who did had limited opportunities for career development.

Due to limitation of school places there was competition for the two or three places that would be offered by high schools to some of the rural all age schools.

When I passed the Common Entrance Examination in 1968 my father needed the extra hand to help with farming and livestock so the chance of going to Rusea’s High School slipped bye.

I was sad but realized that I would have to walk another road-a road that took me to Green Island Junior Secondary School and gave me the privilege of sharing many days in and out of the classroom with so many people from so many villages in Western Hanover.

The start was not easy. I started in January; I walked six miles to school that first day and was disappointed to be placed in a remedial class (8-5). The irony was that I was the only student in the school who had passed the high school Common Entrance Examination. Others from Cave Valley primary School knew but only Lorna Stewart from March Town who spoke up for me, others either snickered or kept quiet. Some were annoyed when Lorna spoke the truth!

Yet the experience gave me a chance to see how others behave and more important I was able to teach a few guys in my class to read...they were filled with joy..the shame of not being able to read was gone and most important to them they could now read the comic books which they always took to school despite the rules.

The teachers were astute. Miss Bailey discovered early that I could read well and Miss Edwards was kind enough to let me sit the General Science Exams and the Maths Exams given to the grade 8-1 students.

Having outperformed everyone on courses that I was never taught, these two ladies set about convincing the Principal Mr. Simon Clarke that I should move to Grade 9-1 at the start of the next school year. They did not stop at that .They thought I should be Head Boy and so it happened.......they convinced others.

Green Island Junior Secondary now Green Island High School therefore was at the forefront of new management philosophy where the Principal Mr. Simon Clarke , as a strong leader believed in his staff, trust their ideas and their judgment and was willing to implement change based on new evidence.

Even today many institutions are structured for decisions to be made by senior management and handed down. Think about it 35yrs ago in Green Island we had a system using objective measures to re-evaluate decisions and performance so that we were not merely an institution of learning but a learning organization.

You may recall that Mr. Clarke was very strict and at the regular morning assembly as we marched by in military precision there was shoe inspection ----clean was not good enough, the leather had to be shine. A few of us had an ongoing private competition to see who would have the shiniest shoe the next day.

Excellence

Excellence was not only the school motto; it was the philosophy we all embraced....

The school had a farm and soon we were able to supply the local supermarket with eggs and sweet corn. Boys and girls were now learning agriculture in a more business oriented fashion, at the same time learning the scientific principles of farming.

We were fortunate we had some of the best and most dedicated agriculture teachers.

We had very good language teachers. Mr. Ansel Brown who later became principal, had the ability to bring Spanish to life, to make it vibrant ,romantic and passionate. Yes Spanish was no longer a set of strange words.........

Home economics was taught well for I had the wonderful pasties as proof. The class had some pretty girls and I often thought it would have been a good place for me.....I would have tied hard to cause no more than a little trouble!

The wood work and metal work department had tools and machinery never before seen in the all-age schools. Interestingly as I discovered later the high schools never had such facilities either because they concentrated only on the academic.

While learning to use drills and wrenches it never occurred to me that those life skills would be required at home or in our daily activities.

And talking about life skills; we did not always like the idea of being orderly in the dining room listening to classical music and using knives and forks in the correct manner. Today many of us see people at work struggle with a knife and fork, but we have mastered the skills and developed the appropriate table manners that create an advantage over the average person in England, Canada and USA.

Along the way we also became a family learning to care about each other.

Having left school in Green Island all these years the memories of schoolmates and friends remain ever so special...

Many have gone on to various institutions and perused different careers. I went to Rusea’s High School then to the University of the West Indies. Like many of you here tonight I had no plan to leave Jamaica. I did not own a passport until age 28yrs old.

Post graduate training as an Ear Nose and Throat Head & Neck Surgeon took me to England and Ireland.

In 1989 I became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. While enjoying the English and Irish hospitality my heart remained in Jamaica. Yes I tried to go back several times although the pay and working conditions in Jamaica would never compare with the UK. On the few occasions when I did get a response it would be to say there was no available post.

I would not be surprised if others here have similar experiences. We must look at the positive side. We are able to network and come together tonight in a way that benefits not only our school and community but the entire country. We are opening doors and creating pathways that will make it easier for other Jamaicans.

When others ask why you are not in Jamaica, the answer is simple we work the frontiers so that others may benefit.

Over the years foreign perception of Jamaica was built around Reggae Music and Bob Marley and the Blue Mountain coffee. We can now add Jerk Chicken and Jerk Seasoning to that list of excellence.

There are two disturbing trends:
1) Poor school performance among boys.
2) Violence in the wider society

My view is that an appreciation of the value of a sound education and the enthusiastic promotion of the concept will solve both problems.

Even for adults who have dropped out of school it is not too late to take that second chance.

We can start by keeping contact and encouraging students to stay in school and to do well. Let them know it is OK to be called a nerd. The benefits of sustained wealth and good health and prosperity can only be found on the old road; that old Jamaican road, called education.

After all we the Green Island High School Alumni are examples of success via the old road....that old Jamaican road ,where education form the foundation of decency ,prosperity and success not just for individuals but families, communities and the nation.

Remember the school motto “Excellence”....Yes let us go out and tell it..... Encourage every youngster to discover his or her abilities

Tell it in Green Island, Calwell, Grange, Rockspring, Saltspring, Santoy, Logwood, Warf Road, Cove, March Town, Cave Valley, Campbelltown and everywhere.

If we believe then we will not despair for the future we will hold hands with the young and guide the along the old Jamaican road.

Thank you everyone.

Wesley Alexander Miller, MB, BS, FRCSI
Chief of Surgery
King Edward Memorial Hospital
Bermuda