O'Neil Barrington Ankle - BY GEORGE HENRY

BY GEORGE HENRY, STAR Writer

SPALDINGS, CLARENDON

O'Neil Barrington Ankle has been in teaching for 10 years. He is also a past student of G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sports in Jamaica and New York Institute of Technology in the United States. Ankle taught at his alma mater G.C. Foster, The Queen's School, and he is currently Principal for the Green Park Primary and Junior High School in Clarendon.

Teaching is a rewarding profession according to Ankle, and because of this, he loves teaching with a passion. He said that being in teaching allows him to be able to impart the knowledge he has acquired, while ensuring that students move from the unknown to the known.

"For me, teaching is more than just academic pursuits where you ensure that students get a few CXCs. To me teaching encompasses all facets of life. It looks at the spiritual side, the moral side and the academic side of the students. It makes no sense you have six or 10 subjects, and then as a student you still have to juggle drugs when night comes. You want someone who is morally refined too," said Ankle.

Ankle said he likes it when students are developed in all areas and the teaching method he uses reflects this. The teacher added that when he can see students walking upright and have the academics to back it up, he feels good.

Great escape

Although he has been teaching for over a decade, Ankle, who hails from Papine in St. Andrew, said he became a teacher by mistake. Initially, Ankle said he wanted to attend Paisley Gardens Teachers' College in Portland, but not necessarily to be trained as a teacher.

"I wanted to go to Paisley Gardens, not to be trained as a teacher. I just wanted to go to an institution because I wanted to leave Kingston. I went to St. Joseph's Teachers' College to do an entry test, and when they saw the result, they decided that I should go to G.C. Foster College. I did not select G.C. Foster, but I ended up there," explained the principal.

The school principal said when his grandmother was told that he was going into teaching, she was shocked, because she believed that Ankle's temperament was not for the classroom, as he was thought of as the individual who would be quick to beat up children.

However, ending up at G.C. Foster College was a wonderful experience for the young man who has credited Gleaner's health page writer, Dr. Kenneth Gardner and former lecturer Gwendolyn Reid, as the two persons who had the greatest impact on him. These persons, he said, changed his life, as he went to the St. Catherine College as a bad boy who was quick to fight. Ankle said after leaving G.C. Foster, he went to the New York Institute of Technology on a track and field scholarship and did Journalism, and on completion, returned to Jamaica to work at the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) as a reporter.

After his stint at JIS, he went to G.C. Foster College to work as a placement officer and as a lecturer, and spent six years there before moving on to the Green Park Primary and Junior High School.

The teacher said he has been having a good time where he currently works, as he has helped to mould many lives, especially with the high level of discipline which he has been trying to instil in his students. He boasted that his school's level of discipline is satisfactory because of their obedience.

With the high level of satisfaction and success he has been getting from students and staff members as well as the support from his school board, Ankle said he is having a good time as a teacher and that he would not trade teaching for any other profession.