The impasse at Alexandra School has been cause for concern for all associated with the Queen Street, St Peter institution.
Former principal of the school, Ada Straughn, is one such person even though she makes it clear that she is not about to take any sides.
Straughn, now 84, became the first black principal of the school when she was appointed in 1983. She is also one of the first two black teachers to be admitted to staff at the school.
Straughn, who has been receiving calls since the industrial dispute started on January 4, shares some of her feelings about the impasse.
She spoke with Daily Nation Editor Antoinette Connell about what has happened and what can be done to restore the good name of the St Peter school, often referred to as the Beacon Of The North.
First of all, give us your perspectives of the Alexandra School from which you retired in 1986.
Straughn: I went to teach at The Alexandra School in 1946, left and went back in 1959 and was there until I retired in 1986. It was always a small, close-knit school. It was a small plantation called Merton and up to now some people don’t forget that address.
The intake was chiefly from the plantations around it. Myself and Nella King were the first two black people at the school. It was a neat little school, the grounds were like gardens. The girls were particularly orderly and the headmistresses lived on the premises. The school was famous for its art which used to be judged overseas.
The expansion of the school made a big change in 1984 because it also included boys. There were 30 of them, they were darlings. Then we had that very bad flooding in 1984, a lot of files were lost and the water was about a foot-and-a-half high.
But that was the authorities’ fault.
The flood was an experience. That old building that housed the staff room and the library was sinking, we lost a lot of books. The foolishness of it all is that when they started the expansion, I said to the contractor: “This place floods”.
They did not pay me any mind. But that morning when I went down and I saw the furniture they had brought in for the new block floating . . . my husband had to lift me over the water so that I could see the damage.
That expansion aged me ten years or more. We had to be out of school for weeks to see how we could settle ourselves.
The staff, from the ancillary, teaching, gardening to the maids, put our heads together and said let’s see what are we going to do. The gardeners got some people they knew to move us out into what we call our “hall”. All the staff crowded together and we did it ourselves. We had to find a place for the boys and girls because of the bathroom facilities.
I don’t think anybody who was there then could forget that experience. We lost a lot but the staff handled it like Trojans.
Why do you think it went so well?
Straughn: The Alexandra staff and whole school lived like a family. It wasn’t because it was small, it was because there is something in character building called human relations skills and our human relations skills kept that school together, as tightly as it was.
On Fridays, we discussed things that happened and planned things. Without a hall, we staged plays, musicals, graduations and we had a Miss Personality show. When we had things like that going on, any member of staff who could contribute in any way did so. These things were popular and no wonder the school was called the Beacon of the North. Groups met there, had concerts there and played there.
For all those years, that school never suffered vandalism. Members of the school were taught to care it. The school was very close knit and not only manageable but managed.
It was very highly respected, that Alexandra School.
Share with us one of your fondest memories of the school?
Straughn: They said the boys were my favourite. One day, the rain came down and they decided to shelter in, of all places, a tree! When the teacher brought them to me, I told them, because I didn’t lash, that I was going to make them take off their trousers and press their underpants and they would go to class in their underpants. They said: No, ma’am, no ma’am!’ and they stayed there until they dried off.
Has that spirit been affected by the recent industrial action?
Straughn: Well, I don’t know what will happen now but it will suffer badly from what has happened. Those admitted to the staff were always welcomed . . . . I remember [the late] Sir James [Tudor], who acted down there for some time, said it was one of his most pleasant experiences. He said it was a whole school.
In the past, the teachers in the north came from Alexandra School. We had a vocational guidance programme that the other schools did not have. Institutions like the [Queen Elizabeth] Hospital, schools, banks, got a number of our girls as a result.
I taught Amaida Greaves [the science teacher at the centre of the recent impasse] and her sister Charlotte. I remember Cyrilene Willoughby holding training sessions in the Easter vacation for those boys and girls who would substitute when the prefects were taking their public exams.
The girls and boys had to be properly dressed for the sessions. Then, the men we had teaching were class acts, Victor Johnson, Morris Blenman, Leslie Lett. Staff were always interested in uplifting the school. They would talk to the boys and girls like human beings.
During your time, how did you handle conflict?
Straughn: Human behaviour is unpredictable and you can’t legislate it.
I don’t remember any real upheaval, any real conflict in my time, we talked it out. I know I never held up a teacher for ransom for a child. We settled our little conflicts and they were never big.
Anything related to the students, together with staff, we would decide on what was the best thing to do. There was a student who we realized had a problem and when we looked into it, she had to bathe and take care of her grandmother.
She would be in detention but no marks were taken off and she stayed on evenings to do her homework. It was not punishment, it was help. Staff looked after the needy children. The lunch was put on the kitchen table and they would come and pick it up and nobody knew.
Change is inevitable, you have to move with change, but still there need not be change for the worse or change for changing’s sake.
Was there anything particularly troubling to you about the recent impasse?
Straughn: What I did wonder about was what part did the Board of Management play? The Board of Management used to play such an important part in all these things. I would think it would have played a part in the initial stage. I don’t know what part it played.
What was your general reaction to the dispute?
Straughn: I was hurt, absolutely hurt. It should never had reached those proportions. I got lots of calls and even in church [St Leonard’s Church], we prayed. I’m sure it hurt a lot of the staff too, and we are all wondering what the next step will be.
Some of the staff who went to school there, they must be the most hurt.
It is really saddening, very saddening, because to me it need not have gone that far. We need now to retrace our steps and see what happened. There was so much love and respect and good feeling. That is gone. I believe the good feeling, real humanness will come back.
What about the school and its reputation?
Straughn: Something has to be done to bring it back, but bringing it back to normalcy won’t happen overnight.
It will take a big effort. It was almost scandalous the way things went. They should not have got that far and it is not a matter of a blame game. The school’s name has to be rebuilt because it is too good an institution. It is hurtful to too many people if it goes by the wayside. It has to be rebuilt as a proper institution.
It will take a total, not just a community, but a national effort. This isn’t a humpty-dumpty situation. It isn’t that a building has been destroyed but a reputation and a character, these are the attributes that have been damaged.
It is going to take a lot of effort because when you looked at the television and saw the faces of those staff, they were so painful. There was pain written all over those faces.
What is the next step in order to resolve the matter?
Straughn: The Prime Minister has promised to do it with haste, so we are hoping that whatever it is, it will be to the benefit of all.
Do you think the dispute will affect the choice parents make in future Common Entrance Exams?
Straughn: People must have somewhere to send their children. People aren’t going to say I’m not sending my child to Alexandra. But you can’t blame them if they say, look what has happened. It doesn’t mean it will happen again. Lots of people who passed their opinions didn’t know what was going on.
Where can the restoration of the name start?
Straughn: The old scholars did a lot for the school and it was one of the strongest. We’ve had Alexandra girls who became Barbados Scholars, like Velma Newton and Leslie Rollock.
What about the reputation of teachers?
Straughn: A teacher is like an oil lamp. A lot of lights can be made from it and it would still be burning. I still believe it is one of the noblest professions.
