Jonathan Grant High School food and nutrition teacher Sanjay Stephenson does not consider himself an emotional man. But two Thursdays ago, he could not hold back tears as his grade 10 students surprised him with a celebration of gratitude, honouring the positive impact he has had on their lives, inside and outside the classroom. “When I saw the celebration and excitement on the students’ faces, it hit me really hard,” he told The Sunday Gleaner. “Everything starts to play back in my mind – students say, ‘Sir, you are the reason I come to school’, ‘You are the reason I am doing this subject’, ‘You’re the reason I keep pushing'.”That moment solidified his belief that he was living his purpose. The 28-year-old Epping Forest, Manchester, native believes that he was destined to become a teacher, recalling how in his younger days, he would often take chalk home from school and pretend to teach his younger relatives.But his pursuit of this dream wasn’t linear. After graduating from Winston Jones High School in the parish, Stephenson said he took on a job at a Domino’s Pizza outlet as a customer service representative to help finance himself and his family. “I lost my mother when I was seven years old. She died from a heart attack, and from that, my father, he is the one who raised me and my brother,” he said. His father, Horace Stephenson, worked as a seasonal painter and handyman, and although he tried his best to provide for the family, it wasn’t always easy. “He never left us. He was always there. He played the mother and the father roles. We would never go a night without having dinner. Even if he didn’t eat, he’d ensure that my brother and I ate, and we basically went to our beds with a bellyful,” the educator recalled. After spending a year working at the fast-food outlet, Stephenson enrolled at Church Teachers’ College in 2017 to pursue a degree in human ecology education. He funded his first year using savings from his job, assistance from a lecturer, and grants, before taking out a student loan to finance the remainder of his studies.After leaving college, he worked briefly at Wolmer’s Girls’ School in Kingston, before moving on to the St Catherine-based Jonathan Grant High, where he has been for the last four years. From the outset, Stephenson said he knew he wanted to create an environment that would facilitate the holistic development of his students. For him, no student should be left behind. He adapted this philosophy from the 2016 animated film, Trolls, where the rallying cry ‘No troll left behind!’ was used to ensure the safety and unity of their community. “I try my very best to create that space where students feel comfortable in learning, where teaching and learning are fun, and they are doing academically well,” he said. According to him, his classroom maintains a strict atmosphere while remaining enjoyable for students. “When I see students feeling down, I will crack some jokes with them, and when I am teaching a certain topic, I will crack some nice jokes. I create a space where they can come around me and say, ‘Sir, I am feeling this’, or ‘I am not feeling well’, or there is a situation, and they feel free to come and to talk to me,” he stated. Stephenson said he has a full appreciation of the role that teachers have in shaping their students and takes his responsibility as a role model very seriously. “These students are coming from different socioeconomic backgrounds, different ways of life, and in today’s society, some don’t have this father figure to say, ‘Son, I love you’, or they can’t go to their father and say, ‘Daddy, I did this and I did that’, so I create this space where students can come to me and they can share what they have done, and I would normally encourage them or provide advice,” he said.It’s a classroom where students feel seen and understood.This kind of dynamic is very important to 17-year-old Kyle Davis, who lost his father less than a year ago. To him, Stephenson has been integral in helping to fill that void.“One thing, mi really rate this teacher. He will never give up on yuh. He will always try wid yuh, and mi tell him every day say, ‘Sir, mi nuh have mi fada right now, but yuh really come in like a fada to mi,” the aspiring chef told The Sunday Gleaner last Tuesday. The open-minded atmosphere that is curated in Stephenson’s classroom was especially important for transfer student Kcamoni Henry, who said it motivates him to do well. “Him nuh judge di book by the cover; him nuh work off a looks. Him know weh him a do and know how fi talk to students. Mi nuh wonderful and him mek mi wonderful. Him always push wi; mi never yet get a assignment missed from mi start da school ya,” he said. He added: “Mi a go a school fi more than five years now because mi repeat, and fi di whole a mi five years dem, basic school, to primary school, to high school, a di most work mi ever yet siddung and do inna mi life.” Meanwhile, Stephenson’s approach to teaching is what grade 10 student Anya-Kay Dyer loves the most. “I find learning in his class very fun, easy, even though the work nuff, but it’s very fun and easy the way he puts it and how he explains it to us, and make sure seh wi understand,” she said.But for 16-year-old Joel Walker, who, along with Davis, helped mastermind the surprise celebration, Stephenson’s influence has been life-changing. Walker said the lessons and values instilled in Stephenson’s classroom have extended far beyond food and nutrition, shaping the way he approaches his other subjects.“Mi academic level was very low inna every class. The highest mi ever get a 50 per cent,” he said. “Now in grade 10, I want to thank him because mi improve inna all a mi subject dem because a him mek mi like fi come a school now, because mi nuh really like come a school,” said Walker. “Words cyaa really explain how mi feel about this man because him change mi life.“He’s a very jovial teacher, like a father to me – a bredda, a uncle, friend, and an amazing teacher,” he added.sashana.small@gleanerjm.com