THE ARDENNE High School family at home and in the diaspora has been plunged into mourning following the passing on Sunday, October 15 of beloved former principal, Roy J. Ebanks, at The University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI).
“We express deep and unending gratitude to all those in his Ardenne High School and alumni family, Olson Memorial Church of God and larger Church of God family for rallying valiantly around him during his time at the UHWI,” his children, Annette and Neila Ebanks, wrote in an email to members of the school community. “Thank you for your continued prayers for our family as we navigate this difficult time.”
Ebanks was born in Havana, Cuba to Jamaican parents. He was an extraordinary educator who graduated from Mico Teachers Training College and joined the staff at Ardenne in 1956. A year later he enrolled at Anderson University in Indiana, USA where he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1963 he rejoined the staff at Ardenne and in 1979 he was appointed the fourth principal of the institution, a position he held until his retirement in 1996. In 2011, the Ardenne Alumni New York chapter bestowed upon him a leadership award for over 40 years of dedicated service to Ardenne.
“The Ardenne years were very happy ones,” Ebanks proudly told attendees at the 2011 event. “We were a closely knit family ... a very caring and productive school community,” he continued.
Ebanks contributed to the school’s phenomenal growth that boasts Ardenne students winning every major national scholarship and the school consistently producing several top-performers in regional examinations. Under his watch the school dominated the annual Gleaner Children’s Own Spelling Bee competition which paved the way for Ardenne becoming the only Caribbean institution to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship in the USA when a precocious Jody-Anne Maxwell became the first black student to hoist the trophy in 1998.
Speaking about Ebanks, Nadine Molloy, principal of Ardenne High School, said, “Those who have followed in your footsteps are indeed grateful to you. Those who learned from you are forever educated. Those who walked with you have been blessed with your genuine love for people. Those who laughed with you knew joy. Those who worshipped with you knew fellowship. Those whom you counselled understood empowerment ... Ardenne grieves that you are no longer just a phone call or a short drive away,” she noted.
Dorothy Francis, who taught economics and geography at Ardenne from 1970-1983 described Ebanks as an innovator.
“This was the principal who marshalled the building of the three-storey block at Ardenne, thus taking the school off the shift system. Ardenne was one of the early schools in Jamaica to have done that.”
She said that he was always willing to delegate and he placed confidence in his staff members.
“I gained a wealth of experience from his leadership because he believed in his teachers’ ability to carry out tasks. He had a wide open door policy and was very accessible. You were welcome to discuss anything with him,” she said.
Former head boy, Dave Rodney, who attended Ardenne from 1968-1975 remembered Ebanks as being an ‘omnipresent, uncompromising disciplinarian’. Clive Blackwood, executive vice president and general auditor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, who attended Ardenne from 1972-1980 concurred, adding that Ebanks was also caring about the welfare of his students. Blackwood continued, “His legacy will be a principal who contributed immensely to Ardenne advancing out of the 20th century as the pre-eminent high school in Jamaica.”
Mark White, a civil engineer based in Toronto, Canada ,described Ebanks as an ‘elder statesman’ who cared for students of the Ardenne community.
“I remember Mr Ebanks, aka Ebo, Banks, Phantom or Fox, as he was called, as a disciplinarian,” White said. “Him standing behind the sixth form building under the ‘Clammy Cherry Tree’, beckoning with the finger and soft tone voice – just loud enough for us to hear – saying, ‘I see you’. That was enough for us to scamper to safety behind the bushes, high tailing behind the school’s caretaker cottage to class. Later, at the end of the school day, you would hear your name being called on the school’s PA system to report to his office. This was done out of love and him wanting the best for every student. He will be profoundly missed.”
Robert ‘Bobby’ Barton, a former mathematics teacher and volleyball coach at Ardenne in the ‘70s-’80s, spoke about two characteristics of Ebanks that defined him.
“He was deeply contemplative and he was a good listener,” he opined.
“My strongest memories are his passion for football and the key role sports played in personality and academic development. During discussions – some spirited – on how to move Ardenne ahead in sports, he agreed to put full control under a sports committee. That move set seeds for advancing Ardenne in several sports including netball, volleyball, football, basketball and others. Most important also was the successful drive to motivate the student population, change attitudes, and to inspire teams. He left a strong legacy that will be hard to match.”
Three-time Jamaican bobsled team Olympian, Devon Harris, who attended Ardenne from 1977-1984 also spoke about Ebanks’ passion for sports. Ardenne’s spectacular win of the 1991 Manning Cup and Oliver Shield, the symbol of nationwide football supremacy, happened under his tenure as principal, as did national championship Ardenne teams in netball, volleyball and basketball.
“I remember meeting some of the guys from Ardenne’s very first Sunlight Cricket team,” Harris shared. “They spoke about how instrumental he was in getting that team started ... He certainly was a strong supporter of the Ardenne sports programme. He was all about academics, but he wanted us to participate in sports as it created a more rounded student.”
The funeral service for Roy Ebanks will be held on Saturday, November 25 at Olson Hall at Ardenne High School. He was 93 years old at the time of his death.
Ardenne mourns passing of former principal Roy J. Ebanks - Jamaica Gleaner
Read More
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar