THE man who is now tipped to lead the Jamaica Labour Party and the country as its next prime minister, had humble beginnings, and an education not unlike the majority of Jamaicans his age, but a trip by the Sunday Observer to his old stomping ground at the St Catherine High school, revealed the young Andrew Holness always stood out.

“Andrew used to come and lean up on mi cart steering and just start reason wid me and him friend dem,” a former juice vendor Stanley McGaw, known to students as ‘Juicy’, who sold his wares at the school’s gates for more than 20 years told Sunday Observer.

“Him used to come and buy ‘sky juice’ like any other student. Then we would talk. Him used to put down some serious reasoning,” recalled McGaw, who now works on the school’s farm.

“You could see the difference in him from those days. I am glad to know that someone great from St Catherine is going to be the next Prime Minister.”

One of the school’s vice-principals, who declined to be named for this story, was a grade co-ordinator during Holness’s high school days and described him as a regular boy, but one that was very serious.

“Andrew was a regular boy who got up to some tricks,” she smiled, though she also declined to describe some of these ‘tricks’.

“But when it comes to school work he was serious. In fact, he did not like to fail at all. He would work all the time to keep his marks up. He set a standard for himself and tried to live up to that. I remember once he got a mark that was less than what he thought he should have got and he became very upset and crushed up the paper! He wasn’t pleased with the teacher, but he wasn’t pleased with himself either,” she said.

She also spoke to his ability to debate issues, always on the premise that he was not going to lose.

Another outstanding quality she pointed to in the young Holness was his inclination to research everything thoroughly before presenting his case.

“Whatever he was doing and whatever he was arguing, he goes and research it. He does his research well and so could effectively argue his point. He never entered into anything without first researching,” she explained.

“Andrew is a natural leader,” the vice-principal said. “Anywhere he is, he will rise and take over the leadership. I believe a true leader is one that just emerges naturally and that is Andrew. (He is) a little stubborn! But in order to hold true to your principles you need that tenacity. The mere fact that he was head boy in his last year speaks to that.”

In spite of her generous praise of the man, who, if elected, would be the youngest to assume the mantle of prime minister, she has one major concern.

“In general, people elect leaders so they have someone to blame when things go wrong. Jamaicans like to put someone out there and then point fingers when things go wrong. But it is going to be hard to catch Andrew unprepared. He doesn’t like to be unprepared. He doesn’t like it at all!” she said.

“I am conscious that a lot of stress and responsibility comes with the job and I wish him all the best. But I think he has the ability to run the country, he can think on his feet and he is the type who is always careful about the decisions he makes.”

Florence Elliot-Gayle, Holness’s first form teacher remembers him as always being punctual for school, always neatly attired, polite but mischievous.

“But as he got older he became a no-nonsense person,” Elliot-Gayle said. “Whatever he believed in, you could not sway him. He always found facts and words to convince others.”

Doreen Johnston, Holness’ Math teacher in the first three lower forms described him as a ‘critical thinker’.

“He never volunteered to give information, but if you ask you would get it. Is somebody who thinks and thinks hard. He was very competitive in class and was always in the top five,” she said.

She said, however, that while he was an extremely quiet child in first form, he was always very competitive with his peers. This quiet demeanour didn’t last long though, as by second form Holness slowly began to crawl out of his shell. By the time he got to third form he was very vocal.

“It was when he got to senior school and became a member of the student council that you started seeing the real politician in him,” Johnston said with a proud smile. “That’s when he became extremely vocal. He knew from then that he wanted to be a politician. When someone makes notes in their year book they do it for the fun of it. But Andrew was very serious when he wrote that his ambition was to become a politician.”

And while he was a critical thinker, his former Integrated Science teacher, Paulette Wedderburn (Woolery) said he paid keen attention to details and was very focused. He could not be distracted by anyone.

“Andrew was just very focused and you could see from then that he was destined to go far. He was the type who paid attention to details,” she said.

One teacher described him as a very controversial child who would always question and oppose things, never taking matters at face value. In fact, his favourite saying, one that is echoed today in parliament, was simply, ‘I object!’.

“It seem as if Andrew was not just a member of the school’s Debating Society but that he was the debating society,” Errol Martin, who was two grades ahead of Holness in 80’s, and who now teaches at the institution told Sunday Observer. “He would always debate political issues. He was probably the only person who knew what he wanted from about fourth form. From as early as that the man knew what he wanted — to go into politics. And this is something he would always say.”

It was no surprise when Holness, a member of the junior prefect body, excelled in the Debating Society and was in recognised for his excellence as the president of the St Catherine High School Debating Society (1989-1990). Today a plaque on the wall of St Catharine high’s Pascal Hall declares his skill.

But it was his grade co-ordinator, a former principal at the school and Holness’s senior Math teacher and friend, Joan Tyson-Mills, who said she knew Holness would someday become prime minister.

“He spoke politics, but never spoke of what particular party held his interest at the time,” she said. “He was conscious of his surroundings and maybe of people, but we did speak politics openly at school. But nobody could say Andrew was a Labourite or a PNP or whatever. He was careful in his speech. I personally knew what party he would join and I knew he would go into politics because he was extremely passionate about what he thought,” Tyson-Mills said.

She said at school Holness was a very involved student despite his quiet disposition during classes.

“Whenever he had to speak it was very forceful and to the point and you couldn’t just spoon-feed him and he swallowed. You had to explain and he had to understand before you could move on,” Tyson-Mills said. “He was a good student. He was a great debater, Key Club member, Student Council member — he was very involved in school life.”

She does not feel that at age 39 Holness is too young to lead the country, but thinks he has to take council from his elders.

“I think he has much to offer, but he needs to consult a lot. Mr Seaga is a great statesman and I think he should continue to stick close to him and be guided by older folks. But he has the ability.”

And when it comes to respect in his community, “he was absolutely gorgeous when it comes to respect, especially respect for the older folks. People liked him around here,” the retired educator said from her veranda in Ensom City, a few chains from where Holness grew up.

“Andrew a good boy, man,” 57-year-old Ralston Cobourn, neighbour to the Holness’s said. “I know Andrew from he was a baby and him never used to come out and walk up and down. I never see him with any fren’ and company. It was always just him, him mother, and him sister. He was a nice, quiet boy. I am glad for him as mi little neighbour who grow up in my community,” Cobourn said.

Another young man, who gave his name only as Michael, added, “a good man. Is a good soldier — one thing me know him have one woman long! From school days! That show you seh is a principle person,” he said. “But mi really surprise to see him turn politician still cause him just quiet and is normally people who popular turn politician.”

Another neighbour, Herald Samms recalled Holness was always studying.

“Him used to keep in and take his studies serious,” Samms said. “You never hear his mother reprimanding him, no sah. They have a veranda section upstairs and I always see him up there with his books. The only time you would see him go out was when him going school. His sister was the same.”

Samms, who said he had been living in the community since 1982 said he sees no reason why Holness would not do a good job.

Sixty-eight-year-old Vera Moodie also attest to Holness being a quiet boy growing up who kept out of trouble.

“Boy you could lead him go anywhere to how him quiet. Him don’t make no contention. Him don’t trouble anyone. He wasn’t a ‘roady-roady boy’. If is him alone nuh trouble nuh mek. I don’t think anyone in here could tell you anything bad about him,” Moodie said.