The future looks great!
lame the Parents’ and ‘Pity the Police’. Those words were parts of headlines that caught my eye as I read articles from a special Gleaner Crime Forum in January. The forum focused on the rising rate of criminal activity in Westmoreland. The report shared views of major stakeholders from the parish, which listed poor parenting among the causes for youths turning to a life of crime. It also sounded a call for the input of greater resources to aid Westmoreland’s cops in their fight against criminals. Yes, peeps, there’s no denying that with the current crime situation, things kinda look bleak out west. And it’s not just west, things look rough all over. Nuh true? Well listen nuh, that’s just the present. I had a wonderful opportunity last week to prophetically peek into the future. And trust me, it looks promising. In fact, it looks more than promising. The future looks great! Yeah, man, the future has greatness and excellence written all over it, but maybe everybody is not seeing it. So since I’ve seen it, I have to share it so you can help me declare it.
Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of being guest speaker at the annual prize-giving ceremony of The Manning’s School in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, and it was truly an amazing experience. Their theme, ‘Celebrating 280 years of excellence’, are definitely not empty words. That school clearly inspires a culture of excellence in the students. Friends, the problems of today momentarily disappeared as I interacted with confident, decent and intelligent stewards of tomorrow. I met future bankers, executives, CEOs, engineers, educators and national leaders and I was totally inspired. So ten years’ time, if I have the honour of encountering Dr. James Peart or attorney Jhenelle Small, I’ll be able to boast that I met them when they were student leaders at The Manning’s School.
Albert Einstein, the most famous scientist of the 20th century, and one whose name is synonymous with intellectual excellence, has been quoted as saying “it is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge”. And one of the most quoted writers of inspirational maxims, William Arthur Ward, said, “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
Well, the academic and creative excellence happening at Manning’s makes it clear that the teacher there are simply great.
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