Four students from the Reynold Weekes Primary School turned in a lost wallet and are the toast of their school.
Most evenings after the last bell, eight-year-old Jerome Forde, who lives a stone’s throw away from the Four Roads, St Philip school, accompanies his friends Nathan Blackman, Jaquon Blackman-Gittens and Natara Blackman to a nearby bus stop.
On Monday, while waiting with his friends, Forde found a wallet with $200 to $300 and told his friends.
At first, they discussed what to do with the find, then Forde proposed, and everyone agreed, to give it to the snack vendor, Margaret.
“First off, when we saw the wallet it was open and we saw the money. So we were like, hmm, what should we do? We had a plan to just leave it but when he (Forde) said we should give it to the snack woman, we decided to do that cause it made more sense.
“We told Margaret that we found a wallet and we wanted her to contact the person so they can have their money and valuables,” said ten-year-old Jaquon Blackman-Gittens.
Blackman-Gittens, said Margaret called the fellow the following day and that evening she took a photo of the group and posted their good deed on social media.
Blackman-Gittens said he did not realise the importance of what he and his friends did until his parents said how much people were commenting on Facebook and Whatsapp.
“I feel great, but we didn’t realise we did such a good thing cause we are young and we didn’t know how to handle all that money. We were saying that the money could have benefited us for a long time but then we realised it was wrong to take it.”
Forde, who did not talk much, said: “I felt good to do it. I thought of Margaret because she is nice and responsible.”
Nathan and Natara Blackman were not at school yesterday but the four students will be rewarded by teachers and representatives from the Ministry of Education during morning assembly today.
Principal Anderson Bishop said the group’s actions were a reflection on the principles and morals the children would have learnt at school and home.
“Education is not only about academia, but it is also about building character. These children demonstrated a high level of character and respect . . . We are proud of what they have done.” (SB)
