Amazing story from a volunteer at Mt. Airy All Age School in Negril, Jamaica:)
“Even though my time in Jamaica has come to an end, my heart takes me back to my favorite moment at the Mt. Airy All Age School. The day hadn’t gone as planned for me because I was overwhelmed by the 47+ students in the one class I was teaching. Things quickly went out of hand, classroom management was out of control and I didn’t know what to do because the host teacher wasn’t in the class.
Luckily it was the end of the day, I felt like a failure and I was ready to give up. I sat in the main pathway and a little girl came up to me and asked me if I was ever going to get the chance to read to her class. I was in the lower grades 1 and 2 and I believe she was in 3rd. I told her not this time but I would love to read to her now. I took out my book Every Little Thingby Cedella Marley and started to sing/read the book to her. As I turned the page another student joined in and every page after that seemed like another student would join and before I knew it I had a whole chorus of students sing/reading with me. It made what I thought was a zero day for me go to 100% in an instant. That’s when I remembered that is exactly what I am in Jamaica for, TO READ TO THE STUDENTS, to teach them, to love what I am doing, to love them and realize that even if I feel like I may fail every now and then, Every Little Thing is Going to be Alright!!!”–KEESHA Graham