Wendy Whatmore Academy (WWA) of Sri Lanka

    

    When the sky goes dark at night and when the tiny stars in the sky show out their smiling faces, they proclaim the diversity in the wide-open sky. Each star tells a different story, and we understand that the Creator has created each of them, in His great wisdom, for different purposes. In the same way, God created each and every one of us in this world. The “Wendy Whatmore Academy” (WWA) is an institution which makes the “stars” shine brighter, so that they may tell their own stories to the whole world, in an inspirational way.

    It has been a privilege to be a member of the “family” of Wendy Whatmore Academy for the last twenty years. As students, we have been equipped by the institution to face the challenges of life, with much confidence. The standard of English we attained in this academy helps us through each and every stride we make, in our journey towards a bright future. Today, as we stand in an elevated place and look at our footprints behind us, we remember with gratitude all that we have gained from the institution. The awesome relationships we have made with our teachers, students, parents and even the examiners make us feel, that, the academy is more of a family where we share our knowledge and love with each other, than an institution where students are programmed like machines to study. The teachers strive hard and try their level best to bring out the abilities of the students. It is the firm foundations that they laid in our lives and the strong pillars they erected on those, which are still enabling us to build on them and become towers. The inspiration we got from the teachers is an immense benefit to us. Also, the “family friendships” which had been created through the friendship between two kids in the academy, have helped the parents and the teachers to maintain a firm system of education. We are also thankful to our parents who realized the value of learning English and motivated us towards achieving a high standard in English. It was Dr Mrs Shyamala Navaratnam my mother’s friend, who identified my abilities and talents and suggested to my parents that I be enrolled in the academy and become a beneficiary of the immense benefits from the institution. Now as I look back, I feel very thankful to her for the suggestion she made to my parents at that time, nearly fourteen years ago. My life totally changed when I joined the academy.

    At times, “Elocution class” (the famous term used in different versions) was our life, especially for most of my batch of students who spent many a wonderful evening in the classes during the long period of nearly ten years. Even though we attended classes for many different courses in the academy such as Speech & Drama, Spoken English, Written English and Effective Communication, it was Speech & Drama, which was really our beginning when we were kids. I still remember how we all stood in a line and recited the rhymes such as “Georgy Porgy Pudding and Pie... Kissed the girls and made them cry…” and the way “Lolly teacher” (Miss. Florence Rasaiah) tried her best to make us pronounce “Paap Poup Poop Poap Paap Peep”. Even though we enjoyed her training, we were also alarmed that she was a strict disciplinarian and when the time comes for “Monophthongs and Diphthongs” we were almost shivering with fear. But, boys in Lolly teacher’s class were known as her darlings and we guys were quite proud of it. She was the first one to call me by the name “Ebenezer” when all the others called me “Breman” and it was from her that I really learned how my name should be pronounced. She really gave us a good start and it made us get interested in learning speech and drama, at that age. The “Radiant Way” was our biggest enemy because we had to be prepared with one sentence for each and every word in that day’s lesson and it took a lot of effort from the parents to make us memorize the sentences. It was a hard time for them. We were all good at acting and that gave us the encouragement to sustain ourselves in the course until all of us reached higher grades in speech and drama and came out with flying colours in the examinations.

    When we were beginners, we had the opinion that the “Big teacher” (Late. Mrs Shyami Thevadhasan) was supposed to teach only the senior students ( big Annas and Akkas) and we used to stand in attention and observe how those senior students got scolded by her when they didn’t answer any questions on “theory”- (the worst part of speech and drama) and we were given the assurance by our parents that she would not come to teach us by any chance, because our parents knew that we used that as an excuse to cut classes - the fear we had of Big teacher. But, one day the planets started moving in a different direction and a Big teacher paid a visit to our class; “Initial grade class”. That day was the first time I realized that she was an “Achchaa teacher” and it was I who really got caught that day because I pronounced the word Aeroplane in the wrong way and Shyami Teacher spent a few minutes in teaching me the correct way of pronouncing a-e-r-o p-l-a-n-e until I got it right. To this day, whenever I pronounce that word I remember her. Our parents will still remember loads of advice she gave them regarding our development. We, as kids, never understood the meaning of that highly compressed advice but I’m sure the guidance given to our parents by her at that time has continued to help our parents to maintain a good standard of English in us. Even though we were not much attached to her during our earlier days, later on when we were senior students we became her favourites. Our batch of students who were really dominating the academy during the later years was really inspired by the love and care she had for us. The word “Mane Raasaa” still evokes in us the passion she had for our well-being. She also wanted to bring out the talents which were hidden in us, and she made great drama characters out of us, through the plays she directed during the prize-giving ceremonies. “Jack and the beans stork”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Magic Cap”, “Robin hood” and “Jungle Book” are a few of the examples we have. When we moved into higher grades in speech and drama, we got a wonderful opportunity of studying under her. The things we learned from her enabled us to speak English with a good accent. We were able to notice the sudden changes in our accents during that period. Whenever Shyami teacher returns from Canada, it is the festival season for all the students, teachers and parents, because of the annual prize giving, which would usually be followed by the annual examinations, with great preparations made by the teachers and students. The greatest thing I admire in our loving “Shyami teacher” is, the giant steps she takes with much courage and determination, relying totally on God. It is the deep faith she has in God that has really brought her to such a high level in life. Her name is written as one of the great personalities in my book of life.

    As we prolonged with speech and drama, there came a time when my parents also wanted me to learn good communication and presentation skills. As a result, I joined Spoken English classes. I got a wonderful opportunity to study under “Consi teacher” (Late. Mrs C.Chandrasekaram) who was one of my guides throughout my development in English as a child. Surprisingly, I became one of her favourite students within a short period of time. She was very fond of my curly hair and she used to call me by my sir name “Master Veerasingam”. She also passionately called me “Raasaa”. She identified many of my talents and she was free enough to tell my parents about my abilities. She motivated them to make me richer in my knowledge of English. Consi teacher was one of the important persons who taught me to be bold. During exam preparations, she was very particular that we all should score high marks because she did her best for us. I remember with gratitude the moments she stood beside me during my times of failure and how she encouraged me a lot. Today, whenever I am appreciated by anyone for my communication skills, I remember Consi teacher for the awesome contribution she has made towards developing my skills in English communication. My batch of students and I like her so much because she loved us as her own children.

    When our parents realized the importance of learning to write in English, they decided to make us attend “Written English” classes. It was the chance given to us to study under “Rasaiah teacher” (Late Mrs Grace Rasaiah). Even though, we, as primary students in the school were exposed to the initial stages of English grammar, these classes gave us a different perspective on learning English through writing. “Rasaiah teacher” gave us a chance to enjoy the preliminary tactics of writing long sentences, and dictation was the smartest part. We all performed well at dictations which were at the beginning of the classes. Rasaiah teacher was very happy with our performances at dictations, but she was particular that all homework given by her should be completed. That was also the time when we learned the techniques to remember the spellings of the words like “Wednesday” and “Parliament”. Usually, the written English classes ended with learning some idioms and we were supposed to make sentences out of the newly learnt idioms. For some of us who were getting exposed to the use of idioms for the first time, they were a matter of decorations made to the sentences. We even used to include idioms which had nothing to do with the meaning of the sentences we were writing. But Rasaiah teacher demanded that we learn the correct way of using idioms and it became a compulsory element in the written English class. The knowledge of idioms gave us a chance to share secrets when we were among our school friends, and for most of us, it was a code used to describe others. Rasaiah teacher always tried her best to make us real gentlemen. I remember the ways she taught us good manners during our classes. She took advantage of circumstances to teach us good lessons about life. We learnt both English and the lifestyle of English-speaking people from Rasaiah teacher. She is a teacher whom I will remember forever.

    When we moved into the higher grades of spoken English, we as a bunch of naughty fellows including many boys and girls as Michaelites, Cecilians and Vincentites (no need to describe) were given into the custody of “Hope teacher” ( Late Miss. Hope Ambalavanar). As we prepared to get accustomed to her, many precautions were taken by our senior students and teachers. It was the first time our parents’ accompaniment was restricted and we were told that she was very strict. But, I suppose, we were the luckiest and the last batch of students who studied under her and we liked her so much, We created history during that time; it was the history of not writing anything, but talking and talking during that one hour, just for the sake of it being a “Spoken English” class. This philosophy of “Spoken English Class” was introduced by Hope teacher, but we were enthusiastic followers of this philosophy. No one ever dared to miss that spoken English class, because it became a “Rialto” where all news of the past week was brought and presented to the teacher in an interesting way, decorated with a lot of lies. For Hope teacher, who never came out of her house, this class was the main mode of getting news. When we did not have any news to tell, we created news and told her. Hope teacher who had served at Royal College, Colombo for many years as a teacher of English, had a piece of good knowledge about the topic, “When Boys go Wild”, so we did not have any chances of doing any mischief in her presence. But, many of the flowers in her garden were found to be missing after each spoken class. It was a mystery until the last day of our class. We all loved her a lot and we named her the “Revolutionary who made us talk more and write less”. I must also point out, that, it was really at this period of time, that the relationships between our class students were strengthened. All of us, boys and girls, became very close to each other and even our families became friends. We got to know each other more and more.

    The next few years, as we started with our final years in spoken English and effective communications; namely the eleventh and twelfth grades in spoken English and sixth grade in effective communications, we really went through a time of vast improvement in our knowledge of the world we were living in. Our class was given into the hands of a versatile teacher who did inspire all of us and did make a great impact on our lives. It is “Valli teacher” ( Late Mrs V.Somasundaran ) who became our guide and model. It is she who showed us the necessity of having a vision in our life. She was the motivator behind us and made us flourish in whatever fields we wanted to. Her spoken English classes were filled with various issues about the world. She herself, being an expert in British History, tried her maximum to fill us with her knowledge. We had discussions on science and technology, politics, economy, literature, history, philosophy, religion, education, sports, entertainment and many other issues in society. Most of our discussions ended up as debates between boys and girls, and sometimes it went up to the extent of Valli teacher not being able to control us. It was such an exciting experience to study under her. She never wanted to limit our imaginations; she wanted them to be open-ended. The beauty I admired in her was her simplicity. Because of the love and care she had for our batch of students, she used to travel all the way from Chenkalady to Batticaloa to teach us for one hour. I remember her as a person who guided me and encouraged me to live my life to the fullest. There is always a special place for Valli teacher, in my silk roads of golden memories.

    I cannot forget the contributions of other teachers who helped us in different stages of our development in the academy. Thatchayini Aunty (Mrs.T.Shivanantharajah), Dhama teacher (Mrs.D.Manoharan), Mrs.U.Panchalingam, Shanthi teacher(Mrs.S.Rasanajagaam),Sasi teacher (Mrs.S.Inpathurai) Saratha teacher (Mrs.S.Manoharadas )and many others whom I have not mentioned by name. These teachers were behind us and motivated us to become great scholars. In times of failures, they were there to encourage us and guide us. At this juncture, I must remember our seniors who were almost teachers in the academy by the time we became the most senior students. It was Shirani Akka, Shakthi Akka, Yathu Akka, Rukshi Akka and Shirome Akka. We almost behaved with them like juniors even though they never demanded respect. But, whenever we got a chance, we got the best out of them, especially during “festive seasons” of the academy, such as prize-giving and examinations.

    When we think of the whole body of WWA, in Sri Lanka, it is an accepted truth, that our Principal Mrs Wendy Holsinger and most of the examiners who go to different parts of Sri Lanka, chose the Batticaloa centre, since it had many attractive features. I remember a moment, when the examiners came to Batticaloa for the examinations and while they were about to depart, soon after lunch, we senior students and teachers sang and prayed for them. It was an emotional moment for them, and the principal said, “Even though we travel to many parts of Sri Lanka, it is only in Batticaloa we have got students who sing and pray for us”. Our principal and our teachers in Colombo, encouraged us a lot when they found the eagerness in us to learn English. They have been providing us with the necessary help whenever there was a need. I also remember with gratitude, the determination of the examiners who came all the way from Colombo, stayed here with us and conducted the examinations. They even took many risks when they came to Batticaloa, during the last decade when the security situations were not normal. We are so thankful to them.

    Today, most of us, my batch mates, are in different parts of the world, going up the ladders of higher education, in different institutions. We all remember how great the moments we spent together as one family were. It gave us a world where we shared our knowledge and love for each other and competed with each other with fairness. At this moment, I feel very sad, that we have lost one of our best friends and a good batch mate, Rukshini Kirubaharan. She was there with us in all the lovely moments we had together as friends and today we are missing her. We all pray that she rest in peace.

    We want our brothers and sisters, who are our juniors, to gain more than we gained in this academy. The institution gives a firm foundation and erects strong pillars on it the students will be able to build on it the structures they wish. As I look back and go through the silk roads of golden memories, I’m able to see many brightly shining stars, which also made the others shine. Today, as we celebrate another successful year of the academy, let's believe that we are about to witness more and more great things in the future. As we all know, it is the responsibility of all of us, to assure that our family never comes to an end and let’s hope that our family at Wendy Whatmore Academy will provide its knowledge and love through many generations. Let’s pray that God will provide His blessings on us, so that we may prosper in the future. My best wishes and regards to all the teachers, students, parents, past students and all the well-wishers of the Wendy Whatmore Academy.