Garfre Robinson – Full-time teacher, part-time pig farmer

Full-time teacher at Brompton Primary school and part-time pig farmer Garfre Robinson knows all about the struggles of trying to read and perform at an acceptable level.

It is this experience that has seen him making the extra effort to sow positivity into the lives of his students, just as a late high-school teacher did in his.

He recalls going to school in his primary school days and never accomplishing much. For three straight years at primary school he would always be in the bottom three in his class. He eventually ended up in ‘special class’ with a little more individualised attention, along with the rest of slow learners – he ended up coming second and was placed in the regular stream at grade five.

There, he said, he again fell behind, sitting the Common Entrance exams twice and failed.

After leaving primary school, he sat an entrance test for St. Elizabeth Technical High School and failed. He even failed the one for Black River Secondary School, but he had to be placed somewhere, and so he was taken into Black River Secondary (now High School) in 1997.

It was there his life changed when he met Amosy Tomlinson (now deceased), a teacher at the institution who took a special interest in him.

SECOND MOTHER

“She worked with me straight through grade 10. When I said work with me, I mean every lunchtime I would go to her table and she would develop my phonemic awareness, my vocabulary skills, and she would help me verbally and otherwise. She would provide me with material, where I can develop,” he informed.

“She became my second mother. It was so much customary for me now, even when I was on morning shift, I couldn’t go home until 5 p.m. because I had to go to her, and she would assist me and encourage me until I could do it.

By grade nine, there was dramatic improvement in his schoolwork, which built his confident level; and when he graduated fifth form, it was with five Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate subjects.

It was Tomlinson who encouraged him after he did evening classes and got math and English, to attend Bethlehem Moravian College in the parish.

In his final year, he took sick, missed some classes and graduated with just a ‘pass’ diploma, which saw him attending the International University of the Caribbean to resit the course, where this time he completed with upper second-class honours.

Fast-forward to a master’s in education from St Mary’s University of Minnesota, a wife and two children later – Robinson now teaches and is operating as a registered pig farmer. He said those venturing in the industry should consider utilising the new method of increasing their livestock.

“For me, I used the pig semen, as it is far cheaper to mating them with select brands,” he shared, as he explained that he purchases the semen from Agro Grace and performs artificial insemination, which is always successful.

CHALLENGES

Teaching full-time and operating his farm comes with its challenges, but Robinson says he wakes very early, goes to the farm, then goes home to get ready for class. He returns in the evenings and heads back to the farm.

He believes that one can achieve whatever he or she puts his/her mind to. He recalls having to study for his master’s degree, while completing the Aspiring Principal Programme simultaneously. That was a lot of work and if he pulled through successfully, he told himself then he can do anything he conditions his mind to.

Robinson, who is also a justice of the peace, recently launched a scholarship at his school for the Most Deserving Student, and he said it will target those who are struggling and have the potential o overcome the setback.

He is also the founder of an annual fun day event/initiative in his community of Killmurray Luana, where children as well as adults enjoy themselves for the day and are fêted. For that, he enlists the assistance of sponsors. Expounding on the catalyst for it, Robinson said his desire is to see the community more closely knitted and remain like a family, as he wants to know that his children will be safe, not only on his property, but in the community as well.