FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Not even the loss of two teaching jobs could deter the steely resolve of 25-year-old educator Phelisia Ricketts Graham’s quest to contribute to national development.

In fact, it only served to embolden her to take the plunge recently in establishing the Western STEM Academy in this historic town.

“At the beginning of the pandemic I got a letter to say my services were no longer needed at a private school I was working. Very heartbroken and depressed, I said you know what, I am going to start a school. So I started Western STEM Academy after losing that job. It was a start-up. So I got another job now while running the start-up.

At the end of that year I got another letter that that’s it. I said you know what, it’s full entrepreneurship for me. Let’s build Western STEM Academy, the brand,” shared the Church Teachers’ College graduate.

“I wanted to become a teacher, that’s my lifelong dream. I love teaching. I love education, based on the impact my teachers had in my life. So I taught at several schools but there was something that was always missing so I kept searching. I would go to this school and I felt there was more, so I go to another school and I still felt something missing,” she added.

It was years ago that Ricketts Graham started offering online lessons in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects but has now added a physical space in the rural town to improve the service.

“We have been operating for the past two years full-time online and we decided to expand now to include a physical location based on the fact that it’s STEM and we want to be able to have the physical interactions and the physical experiments, in addition to what we have online,” she argued.

The strong resolve of the Trelawny native for nation-building has also seen her turning her back on lucrative overseas offers.

“These [job] offers were very attractive but I have been involved in national development. I was a part of the Youth Parliament in Jamaica, Youth Advisory Council of Jamaica and I was awarded by the prime minister for youth development in 2017 and 2022 Governor General Achievement Award for Trelawny and I Iove Jamaica. I love representing youth development education,” Ricketts Graham disclosed.

“So, of course, the offers to go abroad were attractive. There is always the issue of remuneration, especially for us young people, but I love Jamaica and I want to see Jamaica grow.”

She expressed her determination to keep the doors of the school open at all cost.

“I don’t believe this can ever fail because STEM is the future. We have had challenges before, we have had challenges because we started with zero dollar — no money. Most of the days is just nothing. I am from humble beginnings, I don’t have a rich family, I don’t have financial support externally; it’s just us marketing STEM to Jamaica. And parents believing into this so they are constantly buying into this and it has a lot of potential to expand, not just in Jamaica, but globally. So if we are going to have any challenge, we are just going to diversify our offer,” she remarked.

She added, “So we are also training schools, I have trained Jamaica College in STEM, a lot of primary schools in STEM, and the Government really believes in STEM so there is always a place for STEM, education, globally. So we are not going to ever give up on this dream although challenges will come.”

Among those in attendance at last week’s official opening ceremony of the Falmouth facility was Pastor Carrington Hilton, executive secretary for North Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Churches, who lauded the administrators for choosing to operate the school in Trelawny.

“I am here to support West STEM and I must commend the administration of Western STEM that they have chosen Falmouth, Trelawny as the place of choice to establish this institution. Oftentimes many persons believe that business can only begin in the urban development but based on her speech that this rural area in Falmouth, Trelawny that is now developing, she has decided to be a part in the development process and this is transformation for Trelawny,” the clergyman told the Sunday Observer.

Ricketts Graham disclosed that so far, the student population between online and face to face classes so far stands at 60, “and is growing”.

“In terms of the students the ones online have been doing extremely well. They are grade one to grade 11. We have a prep school, a high school, as well as an evening school. The evening school has no age limits,” said Ricketts Graham.

“We do have adults who want a second chance, they want to upskill, they want higher paying jobs so they will come back and do CSEC subjects and we are actually exploring the option of having short courses for adults. We are thinking of HEART certification for these courses. So that’s in the pipeline.”

Increasing the number of students pursuing STEM education has been deemed a national imperative by Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams.

During a panel discussion at the opening ceremony of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Expo, Gloria Henry, vice-president of the Port Authority of Jamaica, charged Government to “stop talking about focusing on STEM and really make STEM happen”.

“STEM education — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — one of the ways to do that is to create STEM labs from as early as primary school so that you teach, and you grow, and hone, and you develop, and you shape a mindset towards technical skills because skills is where we have a competitive advantage. Don’t we lose our teachers and our nurses and all the bright people that leave UTech?

“The Government doesn’t have to do it alone because I see where a 25-year-old teacher started a STEM lab in Falmouth,” said Henry, who is immediate past president of the Global Services Association of Jamaica.