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Unity
Primary Clover White -
STRATHBOGIE, Westmoreland -
Every good teacher has a good story to
tell.
 Unity
Primary School's Clover White is no
exception.
In fact, one of the stories that
illustrate how, for the past 15 years,
she's been changing lives at the school
- considered one of Westmoreland's best
- is so inspiring that Principal Dorita
Robinson has made it mandatory for her
to tell it at the beginning of every new
term.
It starts with two words.
"Kenroy Williams."
The reference to the little boy whom she
rescued from the claws of illiteracy
never fails to light up her face.
And by the time she's through, her
listeners are smiling too.
For under her tutelage, Williams, now a
student of the University of Technology
(UTtech), grew from a troublesome little
boy with severe reading difficulties to
achieve success in seven subjects from
the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).
"I've never encountered anybody like
him. I remember when his grade three
teacher took him to me I refused to take
him on without seeing his parents. I
said send him somewhere else... however,
after praying about the situation and
speaking to his mother, I decided to go
ahead with him," she said.
It wasn't easy as Williams' reading
difficulties rendered him a troublesome
student. However, with the cooperation
of his mother who worked with a popular
hotel on the North Coast. White set
about the task of pulling Williams up to
his grade level. She used every resource
at her disposal from the wrappers on the
popular 'KC' candies bearing the
inscription 'I love you' which he used
to push at her in his own attempt to
communicate, to her own word bank. Every
section of the newspaper, including the
death columns, which she uses to educate
her students about the various places in
Jamaica was also used in the effort. At
the end of the day, she had a devoted
student on her hands whose determination
to do well paid off.
The two still stay in touch - a
testimony to White's philosophy that all
her students are her children.
"I tell all of them when they come
here...I am your mother and this (the
classroom) is your home," she told the
Observer West.
It is this sentiment that has kept her
going for the past 15 years.
Born in Lucea, Hanover,on May 3, 1960,
White attended the Clifton All-Age
School before moving on to Rusea's High
School and Sam Sharpe Teachers' College
where she studied Primary Education.
Since then she has completed several
courses in Professional development that
have equipped her to assume the
responsibilities of the school's
Language Arts Resource person.
"It is because of my love for the
children. If I had approached this job
with a grim face I'd be doomed," she
told the Observer West on Tuesday
pointing to the class of some 50
children. They are busy reading from
Joan A Davis-Williams' book, Preparing
for Exams and Beyond under the direction
of two of their peers, Chantal Saddler
and Shane Smith.
The topic is telephone manners, and they
have no difficulty staying on target
while White looks on from the back of
the classroom.
"You'll never find me at the front doing
all the talking..that was the old
fashioned way... it's not the way to
go," she said.
"What really works for a class this big
is a system which allows the class to go
on, even if I'm not here. So each day a
supervisor and an assistant is chosen to
conduct the class. It works out quite
well," she added.
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