This letter is in response to a letter from a disgruntled KC Old Boy, Anthony Tyson, which appeared in the March issue of the KCOBA Newsletter. For those who were fortunate not to have read the letter, below is a brief summary.
The letter is filled with a litany of grievances against KC in general, which is perceived to be on a “decadent and gloomy path;” the school’s infrastructure is described as “run down;” the teachers are allegedly unwilling to mark homework and “not accountable;” the KC Board is deemed “as being very weak and incapable of running the school properly”; and, most disturbing, the student body is depicted as “looking like men taken out of the field after a hard days work cutting cane, and dons a tie, which he uses to prop up his low self esteem.”
The diatribe continued to, among other things, decry the deterioration in disciple; the noise level at Melbourne Park in the mornings; the hardness of the playing field; gang-related violence; and expresses skepticism about the school’s educational system (the much-publicized recent report of outstanding academic performance by KC students in standardized tests is dismissed as an anomaly).
In sum, the theme of the letter is that KC is “heading for rock bottom” and that KC Old Boys “in the USA are being given a six for a nine in affairs of the school.” (Mr. Tyson evidently resides in Jamaica and states that he has a son who currently attends KC). The letter concludes with an apology for having “depressed” the readers.
Admittedly, while there is merit in to some of the criticism leveled in the letter – for example, we are all mindful of the need to upgrade the school’s infrastructure and of the ongoing inability of the KC Board of Governors, the Anglican Church, the school’s administration, the PTA, and the Old Boys’ Associations to consistently work in a concerted manner to address the numerous challenges facing the school – both the tone and substance of the letter is decidedly negative and defeatist, and it fails to embody the spirit of courage in the face of adversity which epitomizes KC. More alarming, the letter is bereft of a single suggestion or mention of (a) how to remedy the perceived problems or (b) the efforts already underway to address said problems.
First, the Melbourne Social Services Building is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion this summer. Second, a teacher incentive program has been instituted which recognizes and provides monetary awards to outstanding teachers and acts both as a motivator and as a retention tool. Third, the Chemistry Lab was recently upgraded with new computer equipment. Lastly, the school’s technology has been upgraded via the installation of wireless connection (thanks to the efforts of Dean Morrison and the Florida Chapter, along with others). In addition, major infrastructure projects are planned, including but not limited to, the creation of:
“The Billy Miller Track" at Clovelly Park;
Construction of the Douglas Forrest Building (to house library and computer facilities);
Construction of a 2,000 capacity auditorium; and
Redevelopment of Hardie House into a Museum of KC History.
Collectively, these measures have improved, and will continue to improve, both the academic performance and the infrastructure of the school.
No, Mr. Tyson, we in the KC Diaspora are not “being given a six for a nine.” Instead, we are acutely aware that KC is a microcosm of the broader Jamaican society and, consequently, it reflects many of the ills which confront the nation as a whole (disproportionately high number of children from single-mother homes, limited resources for educational, social and cultural activities, and an overall decline in discipline, etc.). Moreover, KC was never a utopia; we can all recall in our own eras when KC was labeled as a “bad boy school” and, despite sub-standard facilities, we produced - and continue to produce - world-class athletes and scholars. Granted, the scale of problems may have escalated but it is precisely because of an awareness of the magnitude and urgency of the challenges which KC faces, not because of ignorance, why we contribute, debate, fundraise, offer our skills and training, attend meetings and summits, and conduct fact-finding visits to the school.
Do the challenges seem daunting at times? Sure. Could the pace of improvement be quicker? Absolutely. Could the limited resources be allocated more effectively? Undoubtedly. However, far from being “depressed” by your letter, we in the Diaspora see the needs at KC as motivation to redouble our efforts to find feasible solutions.
Finally, the students you derisively refer to as “looking like men taken out of the field after a hard days work cutting cane and dons a tie, which he uses to prop up his low self esteem” are likely not dissimilar to the 49 young men whom Bishop Gibson welcomed at KC in 1925, or to some of us from the wrong side of the tracks who attended KC. KC was founded for the expressed purpose of educating young boys who were not from the privileged class. From this humble beginning, the school excelled to become one of the premier high schools in the island, producing numerous outstanding graduates who excelled both at home and abroad.
Whether you care to believe it or not, out of these youths you describe as “looking like men taken out of the field after a hard days work cutting cane” are future doctors, lawyers, pilots, businessmen, professors, teachers, technicians or simply law-abiding, hard-working citizens who will be a credit to their families, their communities, and their country. If attending KC and donning the famed purple tie raises their self-esteem and provides hope and a vision beyond their current reality, so be it.
Going forward, instead of merely venting and engaging in amateur psychoanalysis, you may want to consider becoming involved in the PTA (if you are not already a member), mentoring a KC student, or offering workable solutions in this and other forums to the problems you so painstakingly documented.
