Working mom urges parents to invest in their children’s education

AS THE Ministry of Education and Youth amplifies its message of greater partnership between school and home during Parents Month, working mom Michelle Campbell-Ellington is sharing her own tried and proven approach to parenting for best results. The 44-year-old branch supervisor at Access Financial Services Limited, and mom to a university student, says there’s nothing more important than investing in your child’s education.

“When my son Justin was in prep school things were tight. I owed school fees and so I sold my car to pay it off. I took a decision to move him to another prep school where the fees were a little more manageable, but I made sure that wherever he was, he had access to the best resources. A relative said to me, ‘Why don’t you send him to a primary school?’, but that wasn’t an option for me because of the classroom sizes and I knew that Justin needed more focused attention. The school where he started used the Abeka system and that gave him a great foundation,” shared Campbell-Ellington, adding that the investment paid off when her son earned a place at Calabar High School.

Reflecting on Justin’s primary and secondary school years, Campbell-Ellington said the sacrifices she made went well beyond the financial commitments. “I had a plan for his life, so I was deliberate with my time. I was definitely one of those helicopter moms. When it came time for GSAT or CSEC preparations, we worked together. I cleared away every distraction. I moved the TV and games out of his room. When he was in high school and he wasn’t balancing the basketball with the schoolwork, he had to take a step back from the sport,” she noted.

Now a second-year computer sciences major at the University of Technology Jamaica, Justin is on a path to achieving his life’s dream of starting his own tech company, producing computer chips to power cars, phones, laptops and airplanes. For him, the interest in technology was a natural progression from his fascination with engines. “We have a family friend who was a fighter jet pilot in the military and that piqued my interest in how jet engines worked, then later I decided I wanted to design jet engines,” said Justin who is also obsessed with high end vehicles, super cars and hyper cars.

Openly expressing a deep sense of pride in her son, Campbell-Ellington said she’s grateful for the grace and favour of God in her journey as a parent, but hastened to add that she put work behind her faith. “When I was pregnant at the very young age of 21, I knew that I didn’t know anything about being a parent. But I knew that I wanted the best for my child, so I had to learn. I bought that famous book, What to Expect When You’re Expecting and I read it cover to cover. From that point on, I kept reading and ensured that I got the information that I needed to make the best decisions for him,” she explained.

Campbell-Ellington also pointed to her village which helped to raise Justin, who now manages the livestream of Friday and Sunday services at his home church, Ekklesia Bible Fellowship in Kingston. “It’s a big responsibility for someone so young, but it speaks to Justin’s maturity. I cannot take all the credit for that. I’m just really grateful for all the support we got and continue to get, including financial support. Just over the summer, Justin got a scholarship award from my company Access Financial to help offset tuition. It eases a very heavy burden. Most times I don’t talk about the struggles because I don’t want him to feel like he is a burden, but I think it’s important for him to know so he can appreciate gestures like the education assistance from Access.”