Education: EL Principal charges Jamaican teachers to change

From the moment his extensive bio was being read out, one got the sense that an oratory treat was in store.

And veteran school principal and edication activist" Salome Thomas El did not disappoint as he helped open the JN Foundation's School leadership Summit at the Pegasus in Kingston.

From catch phrases (the revolution will not be televised"; if they act up you got back up") to heartfelt anecdotes, El laid down the law and the challenge to educators to adapt and get children ahead in an increasingly media-heavy yet factless world

The change, he reiterated, has to begin from within, telling his own story as a single-parent raised child of the projects who succeeded from positive modelling

 in a “Every child needs someone to be crazy about them.” These are the words of Salome Thomas-EL, award-winning teacher and principal, and nationally recognized educator. They shape his life-long commitment to answering the question, “How do we ensure that every child achieves their greatest potential?” This question lies at the heart of the national dialogue on education policy, the day in and day out work of school personnel, and the hopes of every parent. Central to this challenge is how we succeed with children who are facing the most serious barriers to success: poverty, violence, neglect, and low expectations.

For over 20 years, Principal EL has taken on this challenge with the absolute belief that every child can and will learn as long as adults in their world care enough to not give up. Starting as a teacher and chess coach at Vaux Middle School and through his years as principal at several traditional public and charter schools, Thomas-EL has transformed the attitudes and strategies of school staff, parents, and members of the community to help hundreds of troubled children not only graduate from high school but go on to earn higher degrees from major colleges and universities. He brings to the process a powerful combination of passion, caring, and leadership to craft a refreshing, common-sense roadmap to help kids achieve their dreams, no matter the odds.

Salome Thomas-EL lives in Delaware County with his wife and two young daughters. He has been a teacher and principal in Philadelphia, PA and Wilmington, DE since 1987. Salome is currently the Head of School at Thomas Edison Charter School in Wilmington. Principal EL received national acclaim as a teacher and chess coach at Vaux Middle School, where his students have gone on to win world recognition as Eight-Time National Chess Champions. Principal EL was a regular contributor on the first season of “The Dr. Oz Show” and the author of the best-selling books, I Choose to Stay, about his Vaux Middle School experience, and The Immortality of Influence (Foreword by Will Smith), which stresses the importance of leadership, mentoring, parenting and service to others. The Walt Disney Company optioned the movie rights to I Choose to Stay. Thomas-EL speaks to groups around the world and frequently appears on C-SPAN, CNN, and NPR Radio. He has studied in Cambridge and London, England and is currently a doctoral candidate. He has received the Marcus A. Foster Award as the outstanding School District Administrator in Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania’s distinguished Martin Luther King Award. Educational Leadership and Reader’s Digest Magazine recognized Principal EL as an “Inspiring American Icon”. Principal EL has also appeared on “The Oprah Radio Network”.

Live Music: at Jazz in the Gardens, Voices carried

Though Jamaican audiences are far more primed for vocal than instrumental live acts (which makes this writer somewhat of a contrarian), a well executed vocal cabaret can be a genuinely extraordinary thrill.

The most recent edition of Jazz in the Gardens at the Pegasus was just that, with every act on the roster delivering a sterling set (despite two artiste's protests of a failing voice) of well-chosen numbers that offered variety and  virtuosity in almost equal measure.

First up though, the band. Drummer Desi Jones led an amalgamation of EMC (Edna Manley College) alumni through an invigorating curtain-raiser of standards before the first vocal act took the stage.

Nina Karle Levy (below) took advantage of her famous name to reel off a fine trio of songs by her storied namesake, Nina Simone: a sultry yet cheerful  "Feelin Good" the crowd-pleaser "My baby Just Cares For Me" and this writer's favourite,"I Put A Spell On You"

She was followed by Montana, who busying himself on the hotel circuit, arrived in less-than-perfect vocal nick. Still, he managed to belt out more than creditable renditions of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" and a Spinners medley  ("Could It Be I'm Falling In Love/ I'll Be Around") before backing off the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic 'A House is Not A Home".

There was no backing off for erstwhile sportscaster Ian Andrews(right), who came in between two women vocalists I'll get to in a little while. Dapper in grey, he dove straight into "My One and Only Love" before teasing with Doris Day's "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" and giving the required full emotional treatment (even dropping to one knee) to the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody".

Alisa and Christine are the aforementioned ladies and whilst their repertoires differed considerably, the quality, professionalism and flat-out commitment to their respective crafts was equally unquestionable.

Clad in a fetching black pantsuit, Alisa ran through (OK, she didn't "run") a number of her favourites and was not merely pitch perfect musically, but in terms of the emotions conveyed. The inclusion of the long-missed "Old Friend" by Phyllis Hyman (who took her own life by drug overdose) and the much misconstrued "Hallelujah" (written and recorded by Leonard Cohen, but more famously covered by Jeff Buckley, who drowned) meant that two of her selections had tragedy attached to them, but there was everything joyful in hearing the delivery, as there was in her rousing rendition of Emeli Sande's 'Next To Me".

Sartorially the antithesis of Alisa, Christine Fisher took the stage in flowing, glowing white and delved into the blues. Roberta Flack's "Tryin Times" and the classic 8-bar composition "Trouble in Mind" (often recorded but perhaps most famously by Dinah Washington) set a somber mood that undoubtedly resonated with the audience (and with the organizers) and was not completely erased by a joyously funky reading of  the Tracy Chapman smash, "Give Me One Reason"

No to be outdone by the ladies, closing Rojah changed the tempo and the tenor of the evening completely, with a stirring mix of reggae and r n' b gems (including Jimmy Cliff's "Harder They Come" theme and "Trapped") accompanied by near-manic movement and frequent raps with - and throws to - the audience. He showed no signs of having overcome - as he explained - throat surgery just days prior, except for giving the audience a bit too many cues for sing-alongs and fill-ins.

All told, it was a night, worthy of the Jazz in the Gardens brand, precipitating great anticipation for the next instalment, come September 6.


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Music: Protoje goes "Forward" into the Ancient Future with new album

Though he avoided the numerical theme of his previous two albums, roots revivalist Protoje maintained his musical progression as his latest "Ancient Future" took its place in his annals alongside "The 7-Year Itch" and "The 8-Year Affair" with a classy (except for the unacceptably late start) launch at Gardens of the Pegasus hotel on Monday night.

The 11-track disc features the production prowess of wunderkind Phillip "Winta" James, who has  manned boards and provided riddims for the likes of Damian Jr Gong Marley, Anthony B and the Mighty Diamonds. He reluctantly yet good-naturedly took the stage when acknowledged by his collaborator, who arrived for the occasion nattily dressed in a taupe suit.

He took the audience through several tracks, including the opener "Protection" and the heavy rotation track "Who Knows" which features fellow current roots star Chronixx.

This writer also finds great appeal in "Sudden Flight" "Who Can You Call" and the closer, "The Flame" all of which he smartly previewed in an excellent accompanying documentary that also included highlights from his recently concluded European tour.

A solid turnout of music, media and other interests turned out for the event, which continued into the night.

The album is now available via the usual channels.

Business: The 2-billion dollar Business meeting

In actual fact, it was many meetings, as facilitated by the FIRM (short for Financial Information and Real-time Matchmaking) Expo, held recently at the Jamaica Pegasus.


Convenor Joseph Cox confirmed that 1.94 billion in confirmed investment matches had been facilitated. Speaking to the Jamaica Observer post-event, he said that the expo was designed to alleviate some of the problems associated with accessing financing, and gave 26 local entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their business plans to a panel of potential investors.

At the end of each pitch, the investors were required to complete a 'review sheet' which indicated if there was a 'definite match', 'need for further talks', or 'no interest'.

Once a match was identified or interest indicated, contingent on further talks, then the matter became a third-party issue between the investor and the pitcher. 

Initially, over 48 entrepreneurs had registered online to participate, with the final number of businesses that made their pitches being selected after a series of capacity-building workshops.

"After participating in the workshops, a number of them [businesses] also opted to differ their pitch, in an effort to further refine their business plans," Cox said.

"Currently, domestic credit in Jamaica is less than 35 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is well below international benchmarks. This points to difficulty in accessing credit and is reflective of inadequate funding for investments and entrepreneurial activities, which, in part, is occasioned by an information deficit," Cox said at the launch.

FIRM is a collaborative effort between the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and the PIOJ, and aims to assist people with viable business ideas, or existing businesses that are under-funded and lack the requisite collateral or market information to access financing for their ventures.

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Live Music: Ladies First, as Jazz in the Gardens returns

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Maria Myrie

Keisha Patterson

There are some things that just be picked and resumed with little hitch or sense of loss. The Jazz in the Gardens series of live concerts, which had enjoyed a seemingly unassailable run at the Gardens of the Jamaica Pegasus, made a sprightly return on Sunday, after a lengthy cessation, brought on both by the change in ownership of the hotel - with its attendant physical renovations - and a change in the sponsorship climate that left the iconic event somewhat in the lurch.

It returned, with customary host Michael Anthony Cuff Snr getting things underway in the usual manner, complimenting the audience and encouraging patrons in the rapidly-filling ground to acknowledge each other.

Then it was on to the music, provided no less a stalwart group: Chris McDonald on keys (and chipping in with vocals as is his wont), Adrian Henry, aka "Jerks" on electric bass, Desi Jones on drums and Othniel Lewis leading on keyboards, having dubbed his quartet The Fryers (think "minnows" or "sprats" if you're non-Jamaican).

Of course, they were anything but lightweight musically and whipped through two instrumental selections before the evening's first vocalist (in a Ladies-themed night) took the stage. Slender and slinky in figure-hugging black (a motif it seemed for the night), Morrison hit an early high with a gender-friendly rendition of Ben E King's "I Who Have Nothing". It was a height that she would not again reach despite a workman-like rendition of Anita Baker's 'Body & Soul". Pharell's global smash "Happy" was clearly a well-intentioned choice but ended up not having the desired impact, at least not to these ears.

It was a similar situation for the following act, Yanique DaCosta, who failed to deliver any discernible measure of feeling in her renditions, which included the well-worn "At Last" and Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine"

Leave it then to Maria Myrie to renew audience engagement with her trademark sass and  and sweetly emotive vocals. She sashayed her way through Sergio Mendes' pop-samba classic "mas Que Nada" and scatted her way (partly) through Dinah Washington's 'What A Difference (A Day Made)" before hopping genres into reggae with a medley of classic Marcia Griffiths, including the inescapable "Feel Like Jumping" and "Steppin Outa Babylon"

Patterson was most faithful to the title genre, bouncing in on "Orange-Colored Sky" (made popular by Nat King Cole and easing out - several selections later - on the Rodgers and Hart standard, "My Funny Valentine" as well as the iconic blues fever. In this she continued another theme for the night, ladies re-working songs either written or originally recorded by men. Peggy Lee's version of "Fever" is the most widely known, but the original recording is by a blues artist known as Little Willie John.

Sadly, this writer had to leave it there, with Pam Hall and show-closer Karen Smith still to come, but it was a solid resumption to a music series that is still good value in many ways, not least of which having some fidelity to the word "Jazz" in its title.