By Wandeka Gayle, Freelance Writer
Frederick Lewis, principal of Bog Walk Comprehensive High School. - WANDEKA GAYLE
NOT MANY TEACHERS have stepped out of teachers' college right into their first job as a principal of an all-age school. Yet, Frederick Lewis of Linstead, St. Catherine, is one of the exceptional few.
Lewis left Mico Teachers' College with only a certificate in teacher education in the late sixties and he and a team of four teachers entered the Longhill All-Age School.
"The school was on the brink of closure and we transformed it," he said without conceit. The small team, with Lewis at the helm, had boosted the student population by at least 50 per cent by the time he had to leave after two years of service.
From there he went to Top Jackson All-Age School where he also served as an acting principal and took the enrolment from 80 to 350 students. So by the time Lewis entered the Bog Walk Comprehensive High School as principal in 1993, after receiving his certificate in 1968, to when he earned his master's degree in 1996, he had filled those shoes in several all-age and secondary school.
He received national acclaim in 1999 when he received the Governor-General's award for outstanding work in the education system. Lewis is also impacting change at the Bog Walk Comprehensive High School for the past 12 years. "Myself and some teachers got a number of students involved in the industrial education, where they get hands on training," Lewis told THE STAR. "And we have received 100 per cent passes in the O' Level examinations."
THREE DECADES
Lewis has also reconstructed the physical layout of the school by adding 35 new classrooms to accommodate the increase in enrolment.
But why has he been teaching for more than three decades? "I love teaching," he said, emphasising the three words clearly. "I believe that I should be of service to mankind and I get a sense of satisfaction from doing this."
A resident, Carron Brown, insisted that Lewis has impacted on the minds of his students more than he will ever realise. "He has helped lots of people," she said, "Many students who leave Bog Walk High and are unable to go on with their studies, he assists them. In fact, he has done that for my nephew."
Brown was also excited that Lewis had decided to build a basic school on the compound.
"My philosophy is every child can learn," Lewis said. "Sometimes at lunch, I try to build a rapport with them. We cannot use the draconian approach of twenty years ago where you demand things from them, you have to talk with them, reason with them and suggest ways to help."
Do
you have a problem? Is something bothering
you? Write to