Source : CHATGPT
I just wanted to maintain my lane in High Flyers College. I had already made it clear to the proprietor that I would be working strictly on contract. I wouldn't be forming any class, would not be included in any school activity that is not in line with my contract, and I would not have any business with their extra lessons. Hey, don't blame me. Leo (my best friend and colleague) and I have experienced misuse and frustration from proprietors. We've worked with a couple of schools as full-time teachers. We were working so hard, teaching more than four subjects, but we were still getting the least of salaries. One of the days we confronted our former boss about our wages, and guess what he said,
"Your qualification is O'Level. We don't exceed #15,000 Nigerian currency when paying those at your level. We are not even supposed to allow both to teach in the senior school, but because both of you are smart enough to handle some subjects there, we had to give you the privilege. Do not think you are there by qualification. You are there by grace."
Leo and I left his office, resigned the same day, and decided never to work as full-time teachers in any school again. We were determined to work strictly on contract, and we were never ready to go back on what we agreed on. We got an appointment to teach in High Flyers a few days after we resigned from our former workplace. We reached a consensus to come two days a week and to receive #25,000 Nigerian Currency after eight days, that is, four weeks in a month. Because of our past experiences, we were only interested in doing our job and getting our salary.
I taught in High Flyers for a few weeks and discovered a particular boy in the senior graduating class. He was always silent in my class, and he never answered questions or did my assignments. I refused to pay closer attention to him, and I decided to do my job and go.
I came to school on a cloudy Friday morning. Students are at the devotion ground. I walked straight to the principal's office to submit my lesson note. I saw him speaking with a man and a woman, and I had to wait outside. I could comfortably hear what they were discussing.
"I have taken this boy to the best school in this city, and he never improved. I have paid many professionals in the teaching field to privately teach this boy, at least for him to be able to read and write, and I never saw any result. To be frank, I am tired of him. You people should just help him to graduate, let this burden be lifted off my shoulder." I heard the man say to the principal. At this point, I looked at them, I could see the pain in their eyes, I could see how frustrated they were to have given birth to the dumbest child in the school.
I walked into the senior school building after I left the principal's office. I heard a shout from the graduating class, and I decided to know what was going on. I walked in and saw a teacher flogging the same boy his parents had come to school to talk about. I rushed immediately and stopped the teacher,
"Please, sir, take it easy on him. You have given him the discipline he needs. His voice has saturated the entire building." I gently pulled the boy away from him. Mr Marks was the teacher who was flogging the boy. He was very mad at him.
"This boy has refused to write my notes. He hasn't written any of my assignments. His father keeps complaining about how he spends his time doing nothing at home!" He looked at the boy now, "What is your problem?! Why have you decided to be such a burden to everyone?We've taught you and have given you the best teaching strategies ever, yet you don't want to improve! You are a disappointment."
I attacked that statement immediately, "Sir! Do you not know that it is wrong for a teacher to speak to a student that way? I know you are angry, sir, but please do not call him a disappointment."
"That is your business, Prince!" He walked away.
I helped the boy Patrick, that's his name, to stand on his feet.
"Go to the staff room and wait for me. I would be right back." I rushed to the school medical department and got him some pain relief.
I got to the staff room afterwards but I could not find him. Leo was marking some assignments when I got in.
"Looking for someone?" He asked.
"Yeah. A boy." I answered and left immediately to look for Patrick. I got to him through his voice. He was in a hidden corner, bent his face in between his legs crying. I could hear the things he was saying.
"Why are my different? God, why did you bring me into this world to suffer? What did I do? Everyone hates me, including my parents. What did I do?!"
"Hey!" I went close to him and held him. "Don't say such things about yourself, okay? You're different, that is why you are special. You are beautifully and wonderfully made by God. Do you really know how smart you are? Hey! Don't let anyone talk down on you, okay. Come here." I hugged him. I took him back to the class and made sure he was okay before I left for the staff room.
Leo confronted me when we came back home that day. I guess someone probably Mr Marks had told him what happened in school that day.
"What business do you have with a boy that is not destined to do well in academics? Why would you even obstruct Mr Marks when he was giving the boy exactly what he deserved. Prince, what is your problem."
I studied Leo for some seconds, as though I never knew him.
"Leonard! Are you okay? Where is this coming from?"
He modulated his voice and attacked my line immediately.
"Have you forgotten that we had an agreement before resuming in that school?! Why would you interfare in that case in the first place?! He is dump, accept that, and go your way, man!"
I got angry now. "Can you even listen to yourself? Do you realise that as a teacher, you're also a father to those students? So I should let the boy die in such a situation? Why don't we derive a means to help him?"
"You are very funny. We were very kind-hearted. Where did it lead us? We agreed that we won't do anything other than teaching. We are there to make money and go! What's my business? I teach, and almost everyone in the class understands.I have no business with whoever chooses to be a dummy." Leo walked out on me after saying this.
I was very surprised at what Leo said. That night, I couldn't sleep. I was doing research on how to help students in such a situation. I saw some videos, and I documented some strategies I got. I started by making Patrick comfortable around me. He was very timid, I needed to get rid of that. He got very comfortable around me. That gave me the time to carefully study who exactly this boy was. I got to know the things he really liked doing, the kind of things he hated. I did my research on those things, and I got a few solutions.
I started spending more time in High Flyers because of Patrick. My time in that school runs from 8:00 am through 2:00 pm. But since I don't go to another school from there just like Leo does, I decided to spend an extra two hours teaching Patrick. I gave him tasks to do, and we celebrated each achievement with a bottle of coke. I bought him pencils, he loved drawing and painting. I let him draw whenever we finish our lessons.
Patrick gradually started improving. He would rush to the staff room every morning he knows I'd be in school to show me how he comfortably wrote his notes and his assignments on his own. He did fail most times, but we were certain that he was improving. I gave him defence projects and helped him make his written work. I grew really fond of Patrick. It was very obvious in school that Patrick has started chaging. Before they wrote their final senior year examination, Patrick had started reading and writing without my help again. I was the happiest person to see the result of the time I invested in him.
I was in school on a Wednesday morning, and I was told that the principal demands my presence. I left immediately to meet him at the office, and I saw a boy and his parents. It was Patrick. His parents had come to know what really changed their son and the teacher who was responsible for such an amazing shift. I walked into the office.
"Sir, this is Prince. Whatever change you see in your son now, he is responsible." This statement came from the principal.
Patrick's parents starred at me for almost three minutes. They couldn't believe such a young man could invest such time in their child.
"You are the Uncle Prince my son has been talking about?" His father asked me.
"Yes, sir."
He looked at his wife. Their joy had no bounds. He didn't know how to express his gratitude.
"God has finally lifted this burden off our shoulders." He gently said. "Thank you so much, sir. We are grateful. He hugged me.
I gradually withdrew myself from him. I had something to tell him and his wife even before they came to school.
"With all due respect, sir and madam, the both of you were not supposed to give up on your son. Yes, I know you tried your best, I know you gave him the best you could help him with. But, you shouldn't have given up on him. Everyone will not do well in academics, and that does not make such a person a loser. Everyone is destined for greatness. You just have to find the right path to follow. I'm happy your son can now read and write. He has a passion for drawing, and he might not really do well in academics, but he has a talent that would be a very great asset if he gets the training he needs. Thank you for bringing such great artist in my time. I look forward to how successful he would be. I love him as a teacher and as an elder brother."
I didn't know that teachers had surrounded the office while I was speaking. Everyone, including the principal, gave me a standing ovation when I finished speaking. I was happy and fulfilled.
THE END