Former slow learner credits top teacher for transformation

Jerry Ellis was struggling to read when he was 12 years old. The Kitson Town, St Catherine, resident recalled finding it difficult to keep up with his lessons while at Friendship Primary School in Spanish Town.

He said that despite the best efforts of his teachers from grades 1 to five, he just had a problem reading. His difficulties were further compounded by the fact that he stuttered and was constantly teased by his peers.

"When you have a stutter and cannot read, you develop low [self] esteem. I used to get anxious when the stuttering acted up. I was laughed at a lot of times because when I was stuttering, I would knock the bench when I am trying to bring across a point," Ellis said

Ellis' life took a dramatic turn when Patricia Harris became his teacher in grade six.

"She helped me to overcome the stuttering by letting me practise speaking proper English and it worked," Ellis said.

Now, 30 years later, Ellis is a web administrator at Jamaica National Group. He is one of countless souls whose life has been enhanced by a selfless teacher. The now father of three said that he cannot fathom what his life would have been like had Harris not intervened.

"When I was in grade eight, a gun was introduced to me," he disclosed adding that he was about 14 years at the time.

Harris, the teacher who led the change in Ellis' life, is now the library manager and culture agent at Friendship Primary School. She is also councillor for the Angels Division in the St Catherine Municipal Corporation. Harris, looking back at 1993 when she encountered the struggling Ellis, said that she was assigned a remedial class for students who were unable to read or write and who had behavioural challenges.

"I looked at it as a challenge because my purpose was to help those children from the inner-city to be number one because I am a product of the inner-city, and I have seen the disadvantages with these students. They were not in privileged situations," Harris said.

Although her encounter with Ellis occurred three decades ago, she remembers him very well. She recalled working tirelessly with him before the start of classes and during extra lessons after school, at no cost to his parents.

"Jerry was different. He was a humble student with the willingness and the drive to learn. I could not resist helping him. He never missed a class. When he saw that he was progressing in reading, he said, 'Miss, I can read!' That to me was worth more than a billion dollars. When he started to read, his confidence level skyrocketed. There was no stopping him from there," said Harris, her eyes welling with tears.

The transformation teacher said that before her encounter with Ellis, she had intended to spend a short time at Friendship Primary as she is a trained economics and business teacher.

"His progress made me changed my mind. I could not leave because I felt the need to help other 'Jerrys' coming up in the school system. I realised that this was my 'calling'," she said.

After spending two years in grade six, Ellis earned a place at Spanish Town Comprehensive High School. However, he went back to Friendship Primary after school in the afternoons where he participated in Harris' extra lesson classes to further improve his academic performance.

"He brought with him to Spanish Town [Comprehensive] High School, the reading skills and the determination to learn and I think that's what propelled him to be this success story that he is today and I'm extremely proud of him," Harris said.

Today, Ellis is a successful IT technician, graphic designer, full-stack and web developer. Additionally, he operates a small egg farming business and attributes his success to Harris for she taught him not only how to read, but also how to persevere and overcome challenges.