Young Student Assists Others to Overcome Online Issues

The help of 11-year-old Paris Roper has enabled many other students at the Portland-based Mount Pleasant Primary and Infant School, to overcome some of the hurdles of online learning.

The teacher at the school, Anthony Ross, tells JIS News that the “well mannered and rounded student” has been very willing to assist other students with issues that they encounter to access online classes after the COVID-19 crisis forced schools to establish virtual classrooms.

“Paris has played a vital role in assisting students in this COVID pandemic to navigate the online platform through WhatsApp. There are times when students are having issues logging on, and she assists them by sending them the link and advising them how to get on board,” he says.

Mr. Ross adds that on other occasions the young student takes on “the task to explain classwork or assignments to her classmates who might not fully understand certain concepts that were being taught, and she must be commended.”

“Sometimes they are having issues accessing certain things in the classroom, and she is always there to help them out. There are times too, when I give a particular task to them to carry out, and students are having Internet connectivity issues, and Paris jumps in, and take over… the teachers are very proud of her,” he says.

Mr. Ross underscores that the school does not “just teach” children for the passing of examinations, but they try to guide them for all phases of their life.

He says with online learning being a new method in the education system for very young children, many of them tend to “shy away” when they encounter hurdles, and Paris’ role “is very important to assist them.”

Paris shares with JIS News that what she is being praised for is “something that she  likes to do.”

“You should always be kind, because ‘what goes around, comes around,’ and you should just be kind overall, because that person that you don’t help, might have to help you,” Paris says.

Her mother, Marjorie Farquharson, tells JIS News that from as early as age two, the family discovered that Paris had the trait of “helping out…always willing to do things.”

“You don’t have to tell her to do things. I love her, and appreciate what she is doing,” she tells JIS News.

The principal of the school, Dian Vidal Briggs, says the institution tries to impart positive behaviour, and the students see good gestures, such as teachers sharing and meeting needs, and they are influenced to do likewise.

“We help our students to feel accepted, to let all of them know that they are equal, there is no special treatment for anybody. When they come to school they are all treated as one,” the Principal notes.

She says the ‘Good Manners Garden’ at the front of the school helps to “inculcate” a positive attitude in the young minds, as it depicts several social graces.

“That is the first thing children see in the mornings, and they have learnt from it,” Mrs. Vidal Briggs says.

Prior to COVID, the school had an active outreach programme, where they assisted needy persons in the surrounding communities, and students were included in the various teams, led by their teachers. They also carried out cleaning activities at the Portland Infirmary.

Mrs. Vidal Briggs says students should participate in programmes that help others.

“When they grow older they will realise that they are not an island and that kindness will be returned to them,” she tells JIS News.