The students called him Electric. Later I found out that there were two pieces to that nameone public, one private. The public name referred to his ability to dance to a popular dance tune of the same name. The secret behind his nickname was the fact that he was able to throw the campus of our private boarding school in Jamaica into chaos. He could plunge the campus into blackout by pulling certain master switches in a hidden electrical panel. I first met him through his insistence that he join my literature class. I was head of department and so I chose the students of my class based on motivation and behavior. Electric did not qualify on the second ground because his teachers said he was a troublemaker. Since I was busy he had to hang around outside my office several times before he met me. He made a passionate plea to be in my classes. He said the other teachers did not want him to do well. When I asked why my classes he said I made the students laugh. When you make learning fun, people learn easily, he said gravely as if he were some educational expert. On a hunch I took him into my class but I warned him that I could send him to another class if he breached my code of conduct. One of the things I impressed on my students was the need to own their own copy of the five essential reading texts. I gave a deadline for students to have the texts by the end of the month. One evening my wife, who was in charge of the library, came home troubled. She had caught one of the students stealing books. She, however, was sympathetic once she heard his story. He pleaded with her not to report the matter to the principal because he said with his record he was bound to be expelled. That student was Electric. He had stolen the texts for my course. We made a decision not to report the matter. Between us we had sample copies of the texts from the publishers.We loaned them to Electric. We made him promise to keep the books in good condition and to return them at the end of the year.He lovingly covered them with brown paper and dutifully gave them back once the course was over. After this incident Electric became a model student in my class. He volunteered to lug the big ,heavy reel to reel tape recorder from its storage place in the Principals office every time we played the Julius Caesar recordings. He helped me pack up the tapes and set up the recorder. He was eager to carry my books and notes. When we showed the movie To Kill A Mockingbird he was the one who did all the arrangements. He set up the projector,changed the reels and took everything back to storage safely. Often he would follow me to my home on campus discussing the books. He knew some of the texts by heart and could quote appropriate parts easily. I found out that he used to live on the streets of Kingston and was rescued by a foreigner working in Jamaica who was paying his tuition at this exclusive school.That explained why he was a loner and the object of ridicule from some of the more well off students. Electric in his own way balanced out the costs of his education. I learnt that he asked certain teachers for help with buying his shirts, others he asked for pants, shoes and other school necessities. He told me that as a street kid he knew not to ask for too much help from any one person. Electric taught me a lot about Jamaica. One day he surprised me by telling me that I had a political mind. It was after he told me that any would-be political should read Julius Caesar. When I asked him about this he said, Mr. D. I know who is sleeping with whom in Kingston. I wash cars to earn money. I wash cars in the rich areas. They pay more to keep me quiet because I see whose cars are parked in front of their driveways early in the morning. I see who comes out to pay me. I can tell what kind of person they are by the way they treat me. I know *Mr. Seaga and **Mr. Manley.Political leaders talk about caring and helping the poor but in the early morning they are just ordinary people. It's easy then to see who is telling the truth or lying. Mr. D. you are a different person. You are a tough teacher but you and your wife have kind hearts. You treat me like another human being. You dont act like a pharisee shouting, Lord,Lord,look what I do. You are like the Good Samaritan, you just help and move on. Electric went on to do really well in the regional examinations in my subject but fate had one more card to play with us. Electric had really bad hand writing. I tried my best to get him to practice better handwriting but he did not think it was important. At the regional examination I was a manager of a team of markers. The Chief Examiner was an old school mate. He was now Professor of English at one of the regional campuses. We were not allowed to mark students whom we taught so Electric's paper went to another team. His answers caused some trouble. One marker who claimed she could not understand his writing scored him at three marks out of twenty on one essay. Our system,however,had a checking procedure where another marker looked at each script. This marker gave him 17.The head of the team who had to arbitrate the scores was inclined to give him at least 14 marks. The head of the team, an earnest woman, who was determined to be fair sought out the Chief Examiner.I had just decided to take a break. At the same time the Chief also took a break and when he saw me in the corridor he started a conversation on my teaching experiences in Jamaica. I told him about the strange student called Electric and how he had become a good student by linking literature to his street experience. We were interrupted politely by the head of the team who asked for an expert opinion from the chief. He looked it over and said ,I think its 16 or 17. Passing it to me, he said, Have a look. A quick glance revealed it was Electric's script. This is the student I was telling you about, I replied shocked at the co-incidence. The Chief took the script to his team of chief examiners. Later I was told they agreed that despite his bad handwriting they felt that he deserved a passing grade in all his essays. I have often wondered if Electric would have passed if there were not a dispute, if the head of the marking team had not consulted the chief and if that chief had not decided to let his expert team mark the script. Today, years later, I recall with fondness my long talks with Electric. I can still see his excitement on the day of his graduation. When he introduced my wife and I to his benefactor he said, These are the people who most inspired me do well and graduate. That graduation night I finally asked Electric why he had never asked me for money or clothes. Mr. D, you gave me the most valuable thing any person can give your time ,your knowledge and your respect. I thank you and Mrs. D. from the bottom of my heart. *Prime Minister of Jamaica at the time. ** Leader of the opposition in Jamaica at the time. |
