ST CATHERINE, Jamaica- The date, February 29, 2024 will forever live in infamy in the minds of the ancillary staff, teachers and students at the Jonathan Grant High School in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

It was the day that they lost their beloved vice principal, Rosella Shepherd-Boxter to cancer and their principal, Dr O’neal B Ankle to the vagaries of life and a looming migration.

Asked if he was off to seek “greener pencils”, the transformational life coach quipped: “I don’t know about greener, I will make the best of it.”

Dr Ankle reiterated that whatever his new dispensation will be, his mission remained the same: impacting young lives in a positive way.

“My calling is about impacting and influencing lives, it isn’t about money, if it was money, mi gone long time. I want to make people a better version of themselves, that is my calling,” remarked Dr Ankle, who over the years has changed the fortunes and image of the Spanish Town institution.

During Dr Ankle’s tenure at Jonathan Grant High School, he famously banned ‘Dunce’ bags, saying that if a child showed up at the start of the 2024 academic year with the ‘Dunce’ branded bag, he would have to get another bag and that no student would be allowed into the school with that bag. There was a public outcry, including an objection from the Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) who were concerned that the immediate banning of the backpacks branded “Dunce” could result in children being denied their right to education. Dr Ankle later softened his stance but maintained that he will not allow a negative culture to become trendy in his institution.

Dr Ankle strongly believes that each student is “created for excellence” and that the “academic, moral and social development of our students is our shared responsibility.”

Dr Ankle observed proudly, “Note, when I went to the school, it was rated unsatisfactory by the NEI [National Education Inspectorate]. However, twice in the 12 years I spent there, we were rated good. The last was November 2023. Big thing that.”

Dr Ankle is beloved for his unconventional role as a strict disciplinarian who knows how to let his hair (or lack thereof) down. He is known to regularly patrol the sidelines of home football matches clanging two pot covers, willing Jonathan Grant’s players to victory.

He appears to have mellowed in recent years. In 2015, Dr Ankle was freed of assault charges in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate’s Court after defence attorney Jacqueline Samuels-Brown, KC, made a successful no-case submission.

She told the court that Ankle, who was accused of assaulting a cameraman who was filming at the school, acted in self-defence of the students and himself. Samuels-Brown said at the time the complainant was trespassing on the school’s property and invading the rights of the children.

After quoting a section of the 1980 Education Act, she convinced the court that Ankle does not have a case to answer.

A few years ago, a controversial video circulated where the principal upbraided young males at the school on their obsession with sex.

“Control the thing in your pants…concentrate on the nine and five subjects that you are going to do, and stop focus on front, because when the girls dem gone about them place, yu see how much woman up by UWI [University of the West Indies]? Tell the little john crow mi say to give yuh a break, and if him no like wah mi a say, tell him to meet me at Spanish Town, meet me in the square, tell dem say Oneil B Ankle say yu a go rest yu front now,” he said in the controversial video.

It is moments like these that have endeared him to the masses in Spanish Town. Dr Ankle is not afraid to “tell the truth and shame the devil”.

Students love his affable nature and his no-nonsense approach.

“For me his greatest legacy is getting students to buy into the view that they are created for excellence despite the naysayers in their families and communities,” one person wrote on social media.

“The students now believe that although they are from a non-traditional high school, sky is the limit. They can become doctors and lawyers just like everyone else,” another observed.

Others noted: “They are the JG, a cut above the rest”.

The glowing assessments continued about the improvements he wrought during his time at the school.

“He linked graduation to CSEC passes and this encouraged and improved the CSEC pass rate ever since. The school’s ratings increased,” another user said.

One observer pointed to how public perception has changed of Jonathan Grant in the last 12 years.

“The image of the institution has skyrocketed. We have become trendsetters. We do, others follow. We have an Excellence brand which many want to tap into. The droves of parents applying for transfers in annually is an indication of this. Previously, many transferred out but this number has decreased significantly to less than 20 Inow,” another user noted.

Dr Ankle has led a developmental change at an institution that was once classified as an underperforming school. Under his stewardship, the pendulum has shifted significantly over the last 12 years, with the school’s administrators ensuring that the students understand what excellence is, and that they strive to attain success despite the challenges.

The numbers back up the changing perceptions.

In 2023, from the cohort of 316 students, 195 or 62 per cent graduated from the institution, earning four or more subjects to qualify for the momentous occasion. At the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Level, students received 100 per cent pass rates in additional mathematics, industrial electrical technology, industrial mechanical engineering technology, physical education and sports. The school saw an overall pass rate of 75 per cent, a four per cent increase in comparison to last year’s data.

Dr Ankle has been the recipient of numerous awards including: The Who’s Who Award Among Students in American Colleges and Universities for Academic excellence; PAHO/WHO Award of Merit: Radio feature on Child Abuse; the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) National Journalism Award on Domestic Violence: Pan American Health Organization/PAHO Media Award for Excellence in Health Journalism (Best Documentary in the Radio Category; recipient of Track and Field Scholarship to New York Institute of Technology; recipient of the Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Education for the year 2017 and recipient of the LASCO/MOE Principal of the year award 2007 – 2008.

He is a very active community member and as such sits on several boards, committees, and voluntary organisations. He serves as a justice of the peace and member of the Clarendon Lay-Magistrate Association; a member of the Jamaica Administrative Athletic Association (JAAA) and Lay Preacher (Evangelist) at Denbigh United Church. He aspires to become a Minister of the Gospel of Truth. He has excellent motivational skills and is a sought-after speaker.

His writing skills has resulted in him co-authoring the popular Grade 4 Workbook-Leaps and Bounds in Literacy: Writing and Comprehension Skills (2005); and contributing a chapter to the scholarly text: Leadership for Success: The Jamaica School Experience (2017).

-Claude Mills