Monrovia – The delivery with of a three-year-old, Kindergarten-2 student of her school’s closing program got majority of the guests staring with astonishment and her parents cheering wildly.
She was a member of a group of students for various presentations, including reciting of Bible’s verses reading poetry, and calling the names of all the Presidents of Liberia.
After her part was announced, she marched from the row of students on stage, toward to the microphone being held by an adult female of the school. Her straight posture revealed her confidence and she looked above the microphone, toward the audience, throughout her delivery.
“My name is Reina Sumo,” she announced to the audience. “I am going to give you the names of the 24 Presidents of Liberia.”
“Joseph Jenkins Roberts,” she began, her childish but shrill voice reverberating in the hall, being amplified by the microphone held to her mouth by an adult female official of the school.
Her voice rose higher at her mention of four of the Presidents: Moses Blah, Charles McAuthur Taylor, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and George Manneh Weah.
“And George Manneh Weah!” Ms. Sumo concluded, maintaining the level of her voice.
The guests’ response was more than what they gave other students who spoke before her—and after her.
Ms. Sumo was at the graduation ceremony of her school.
On the source of Reina’s intellectual brilliance, her biological father, Joseph Binda, age 30, said to this reporter: “She took the cleverness from me and her mother.”
However, Reina’s parents had been separated, which caused her bearing a surname different from her biological father’s.
“The surname she’s bearing now is her maternal grandfather’s. When her mother was pregnant with her, she went to live with him, and she put his name on her,” Joseph replied to this reporter’s question of a different surname for his biological daughter.
Little Reina will bear “Binda”, as her new surname, beginning from the next academic year in the current school, her father disclosed.
“I told her grandfather since I’m the person paying her school fees, my name should be the one she must use in school. He agreed, but said it should begin from next school year.”
Keeping Ms. Sumo was always a Herculean task for her father Joseph Binda.
“I was paying two persons’ school fees at the same time in this school, from one hundred U.S. dollars as my salary,” Mr. Binda disclosed.
Father works as a security guard at the Margibi County branch of the Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, where he is given the US$100 as his monthly take-home pay.
There were other interesting activities at the closing program.
One was Debate by students Michelle Kollie, Silver Samson, Justina Fahnbulleh, Dorris Sieh, and Georgeline Koryan.
The title of the Debate was “The Brain Behind the Word ‘Prosperity’”. Four of the students argued on ‘Tailor’, ‘Carpenter’, ‘Doctor’, and ‘Farmer’ as the Brain behind ‘Prosperity’.
While each of the four students was chanting on his or her chosen ‘professional, as the The Brain Behind the Word ‘Prosperity’, the ‘teacher’ arrived, represented by a female student.
“Why are you all arguing about who is the brain behind the word, ‘prosperity’?” the ‘Teacher’ screamed at the other ‘professions’. “Who taught the farmer?” she asked the other debaters on the last ‘professional’ being chanted.
“The teacher!” the other debates responded on chorus.
‘Teacher’ asked similar question to the other ‘professionals’ and the replied was “teacher.”
The guests graded the kids’ intellectual contest with wild cheers.
The First Dux of the School for academic year 2017/2018 was Hannah Freeman, 3rd-grade class, age, who had introduced the program.
Giving his Valedictorian Speech on ‘Early Childhood Education’, the School’s 2nd Dux, Kwayeaker Ben, II, of the K-2 class, stated: “Parents, allow your children the time to study their school lessons at home”
Mr. Samuel G. Dweh, president of the Liberia Association of Writers (LAW), served as Guest Speaker, representing the president of the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), Mr. Charles B. Coffey, Jr.
“The students’ performances here today testify to the quality information imparted into them by the School’s teaching staff and the Principal, and these performances are telling everyone of us to them and support the school, especially in the area of Early Childhood Education,” the Guest Speaker said.
“Parents, you have seen, today, what your kids have been learning here,” the school’s principal, Mr. Peter N. Ben, said, beginning his remarks on the closing program. “What you saw the student did here today tells you the need to prioritize Early Child Hood Education.”
He lamented on the shortage of female teachers in the school. “We desperately need female teachers. If you have ‘C’ certificate…if you have ‘B’ certificate, we will accept you,” he pleaded.
Meanwhile, some students performed poor during the academic year that was ending
Report by Samuel G. Dweh/freelance journalist—0886618906/0776583266/[email protected]