Principal of Brigeport High School, Aston Messam, shows off a framed photograph of last year's batch of students who were high achievers.

Bridgeport High School in Portmore, St Catherine opened its doors in 1978 with just about 200 students. Its mission at the time was to offer quality education to the people of Jamaica largest growing community. From those humble beginnings, Bridgeport has increased its roll by over 1000 per cent, catering now for approximately 2396 students on two shifts with a teaching complement of 90 teachers.
The 26 year-old school's motto is "Total education for total responsibility."

"There is an improvement in the academics where as it is well established that the school has been doing well with sports," Aston Messam, the principal of three years, said. "We are happy we can balance out the academics and not be labelled as just a sports school."

The Bridgeport students recently received new Dell computers for the lab.

The school's headmaster, who has been a teacher at the school since 1980, said that they have consistently had 100 per cent passes in Home Economics at the CXC level.
Messam added that there is a yearly improvement in subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and Biology. "It has been good over the years and we have been improving more and more in the sciences," he said. "Integrated Science is in the 90s every year."

The students at Bridgeport High can choose from the traditional subjects and also the technical areas such as woodwork and metal work.

Students work on light switches in their electrical installation class.

Bridgeport High was also one of the pilot schools for the theatre arts exams that were introduced for the first time last year. Messam said that out of the 14 students who sat the exams, 12 were successful.

In 2001, Bridgeport Port High became the first school in St Catherine to win the 87 year-old Manning Cup schoolboy football competition. The team also captured the Walker Cup that year. In 2002, the boys' track and field team placed second at Boys Champs. The football team placed second last year in the Manning Cup competition, while last season their netball team made it to the quarterfinals. In an effort to produce well-rounded individuals, the students are required to complete 45 hours of voluntary services to the community before they graduate. This programme, according to the headmaster, teaches them to care for others while they learn responsibility.

The principal's office is not only filled with sports and academic trophies, but there are a number of trophies that the students have won from their participation in the Jamaica Festival competitions, namely a 2002 trophy for outstanding pop band and in 2003 the students received a trophy for most outstanding sound and picture presentation.

These young ladies are taking notes and practising to play the recorder in their music class. (Photos: Devon Chin)

Not to mention the dance group that has also done well in the competition.

Messam also proudly displays a picture of a number of students who obtained seven or more CXC passes last year.

"I really work close with the students and we have a team of teachers with the students as well," said the first male principal for the school. "Although we are not getting to all of them, they see us as caring for them without being soft."

Furthermore, Messam said that as the principal he is heartened by the way the image of the school has changed.

"We are a reclassified school in the sense that people tend to feel more or less that the students don't have to do much and as one of those schools we are able to stand up in all areas...stand up and say we are holding our own," he said, boasting that his school has produced the likes of Fabian Taylor who is currently a member of the national football team.

Meanwhile, he said that there are parents who leave all the responsibility of grooming the students on the school which can prove to be difficult. " There are parents who are not here," he said. "They see the school as a crèche."

The get-rich mentality that has been imposed upon the students by society, he added, also has a negative impact on the students. "They don't see achievement as getting good grades or eight or nine CXC subjects, they see it as being able to drive a big car and lots of expensive clothes," he explained.

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