Enterprising educator, Henry Chase, is a ‘Special Person’

Oct 02, 2016 News

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By Rehanna Ramsay

As a pioneer for promoting education simultaneously with sports, Mr. Henry Harding Chase has contributed

more than two decades of his life to moulding the minds of Guyana’s youth.
This week’s ‘Special Person’ has not only dedicated his life to educating Guyana’s children but he continues to provide a means of achieving academic excellence for both the young and old via his own private institution.

EARLY LIFE
Given his experience and accomplishment in the education sector, one could easily conclude that that ‘Sir Chase’, as most persons would call him now, had chosen the teaching profession.
“Not so”, he says. Instead it appears that teaching chose him. He said it took a pinch of fate to catapult him into the teaching arena.
You see like most children, Chase had an image of what he would like to become when he was old enough.
However, growing up in the rural community of Lancaster Village on the East Coast of Demerara, with his parents and seven siblings, the idea of being a teacher was never in mind. Chase said becoming a fisherman felt more close to home.
Being the last child of his parents – Henry Harding Chase Senior and Grace Elsa Braithwaite – Chase and his twin brother Herman would roam the Coast in the Mahaica district on all sorts of adventures, fishing among them.
“My brother was a fisherman. He would be engaged in all sorts of enterprising ventures… At that time, I was also thinking of becoming a fisherman but I had always leaned towards academics more than my brother.”

Young Chase’s formative years were anything but exempt from the pressure of a large family; shortages in every area were common.
However, Chase recounted that his early education at Lancaster Primary School and Ann’s Grove Secondary allowed him to be exposed to some great educators the likes of Teacher Peter and Franklin Longhorn who he said were his mentors.
“They stood out tall in the eyes of a young ten-eleven year old.”
Many days Henry (Chase) and his friends (Aubrey and Trevor) would walk from Lancaster to Ann’s Grove, a two miles journey. This walk increased when he was transferred to Cove and John Hindu College.
“It was a Hindu School,” Chase recalled but noted that it gave him the opportunity to foster appreciation for the uniqueness of the Christian, Muslims and Hindu cultures.
“That experience taught us (the students) at that time the importance of accepting people, their different cultures and most importantly how to coexist.”
“I remember that we would have separate assembles and devotion so it actually instilled in us at a tender age, the tolerance we needed to exist in a multi –cultural society as our own,” related Chase.
Though it was a Hindu School, he said at that time, the institution was partially funded by the Government and was equipped with the necessary curriculum to provide the academic and cultural challenge he needed.
“It was definitely a different environment from the other schools,” Chase stated.

At that very school, Chase disclosed that his love for sports developed because “there I played sports (cricket) and at Lancaster Primary I did music too.”

TRAGEDY
Following a stint at the Hindu School, Chase recalled that tragedy struck the family in 1987 when his mother died suddenly. Chase recounted that he was just 14 years old when his mother died and about 17 years when his dad passed away.
“I had actually dropped out of school before my mother died,” he divulged.
However, as fate would have it Chase re-entered the school system after he went to live with his elder sibling.
At that time most of his siblings were young adults, thus, profound options followed. Chase resided with his eldest sister Carol Braithwaite in Roxanne Burnham Gardens.
He later started his teaching career at East Ruimveldt Secondary. He then headed off to the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE). He began his teaching career at East

La Penitence Primary under the watchful eyes of Head Teachers Edgar T. Fraser and Ms. Shirley Mentis. Ms. Mentis was in fact the one who encouraged young Chase to enter CPCE.
“Looking back,” Sir Chase noted “I would not have been a teacher had in not been for certain events in my life.”
“My twin brother didn’t choose academics but he was very enterprising. He actually worked to put me through college and university. And there is that bond between us to this day.”
With 26 years as a teacher, Sir Chase’s career took him to East La Penitence Primary, then to J.F Burnham Primary, then to Dolphin Secondary and finally to St. Stanislaus College. By 2002 he started a family and was married.
The economics of the day led him along with many others in the teaching profession in the mid 2000’s to take up opportunities to teach in the Caribbean. He stayed overseas for a while then he returned to Guyana.
“I had actually migrated to the Turks and Caicos Islands. I had planned to continue teaching there but returned to Guyana shortly after things did not work out the way I planned.”
Naturally he thought he would return to teaching in the public school system. For some reason, he was unable to acquire re-employment in the public system.

CHASE’S ACADEMIC FOUNDATION

It was in this difficult season that Chase said a good friend, Mr. Terry Bailey, encouraged him to open a school.
Mr. Bailey suggested that Chase name the school Chase’s Academic Foundation. The educator recalled that school began with seven students. But then in due time the classes budded and grew into what is now known as Chase’s Academic Foundation.
The school currently has 271 students and 370 students including adults who attend afternoon classes. The school has 17 full time teachers and a total of 22 part time lecturers for the evening classes. Chase’s Academic Foundation currently has 10 classes from forms one to six.
“Over the years many our students have been able to write the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) with success,” ‘Sir’ Chase boasted.
According to him, the impetus behind the educational institution was driven by his experience during his years as a student, the grim reality that not only academic inabilities are responsible for the failure of many students, but the fact that the social environment of the home is a contributing factor.
Chase’s Academic Foundation moreover takes on the role of encouraging students who are at risk or mainly those coming from working class families an opportunity to get a formal education.
Chase believes the culture in Guyana is one of oppression and there is a general lack of opportunities especially for young people. Hence, an adult programme was created to cater for late developers or early school leavers.
Reflecting on his achievement, he noted that what at first appeared to be a disappointment was actually a challenge to his next level.
“I am not one to give up easily. He said, too, that God and faith played a major role in his life. I wanted to nurture the at risks youth and cater for the working class that may not be able to afford the high end private schools.”
Given his perspective, Sir Chase believes his school and ideals are nothing but gifts from God.
“I feel that this is a calling from God to reach persons who may not be able to afford the high end private schools, to provide where children can get the academic attention they need to boost their performance,” related Chase.
“What I am doing is providing such persons with education the need to succeed in life because we know that education is the gateway to opportunities. And don’t think that I can afford it because I can’t but I always want to offer persons these opportunities via scholarships,” he explained.
The teacher believes that education today is not complete without variables. He says that sports and music should be a part of the school’s curriculum. Chase is driven by the recognition that something has to also be done for sports talents.
“I really believe there should be sports: football, cricket and athletics in schools.”
“At this institution we have created a sports policy to aid our expensive sports programme and we are using it to guide us. The time is now for all stake holders including parents to see that our children become rounded. Children can in fact play sports and still perform well at school, “Chase asserted.
A proud ‘Sir’ Chase revealed that five students from his school were able to participate in the recently held CARIFTA Games in Grenada; eight players on the Golden Jaguars under 17 team are from the institution. They recently competed at CONCACAF in the US Virgin islands.
Michael Hing who participated in the squash tournament in Canada; Kaysan Ninvalle the under 11 .table tennis champion of the Caribbean and National Sprinter Kenisha Phillips are all products of Chase ‘s Academic Foundation.
Chase used his own son Orande, who is a member of the school’s wining cricket team and a member of the DCC cricket club, to prove that sports and education can go together. The young Chase wrote CSEC English ‘A’ in Form Two as a 13-year-old and he gained a Grade One. He went to club as usual and attended school and extra lessons and was still able to perform excellently.
“It is time that those with the power to address education and sports in Guyana to start now and to change the old culture that exists here. Guyanese with the passion and drive for education and sports should start to become actively involved. We need a drive to save our young people, it must start now,” he noted.
“We promote sport so that when our students leave school they would have had a change to develop skills and talents. You see Guyana has raw potential in these areas. If we cultivate it we can go a far way. But we need people with the passion and knowledge for sports in the right offices,” Chase added.
“Haiti is said to be much poorer than Guyana yet its people excel at the games,” said ‘Sir’ Chase as he added “we can do the same. It just takes attention and investment in that area.”
In this regard, the teacher believes the burden of responsibility is on the Government and Private sector. “They have a key role in promoting sports and athletics at same level as academics.” Chase underscored.

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