St. George’s College (Week #103) – Day #472

Date for Entry: (Friday 28 March 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 01 August 2025)

[T2, W:12 – WD:56, (Td:4)*].

Dear Diary,

    I ended up falling asleep on the couch. I couldn't see much getting up to try and find my way to the bed. I could 'Guess-timate' that it was about 5 AM. I could hear the animals making noise outside, closing up the windows. Daddy came up early. I got up and hurried down to Curepe with him. I was telling him about the timesheet day being today, and I had no idea how to find the Waterfront address for OJT submissions. Riding and walking down to school was alright.

    As soon as I walked into the staffroom, Mel called me and said that Jeanice wanted to speak to me. I went to rest my bag, use the washroom and then went to speak to her. She said that she had to go to Port of Spain that evening, so she would be taking the timesheets for submission. I told her that mine just had to get stamped. It was stamped and placed on my desk.

    As soon as I was done, I went back to the office to see how many papers I was able to get printed. I was able to get three. Then I had to go back to the office to eat my pies. Someone was speaking about fire. I sat by the same desk and ate them. Since I did not have my dish, I reused one of the ream papers to rest the food on as if it were a suhari leaf. At least the room was quiet enough to rest for a few minutes.

    When I got back into the staffroom, the meeting was wrapping up. I had to call Mel and find out where the papers that were left on the desk earlier that morning were. She said that the test was in progress and that I would have to go and take over from Mr Peters, who had begun it in 2F for me already. When I checked over time, it was still very early. The wait was truly a long one. The children got restless and tired. At some point, I decided to take up the papers at 12:30 so that I could head back to work in the office.

    The printing works began to continue. Roberts was in the Indera office writing in the attendance book. At the same time, Mrs Santana came in from the VP Office door and spoke with me about the test paper. Roberts tried to do the explaining, which was not correct. Miss came back a bit later in the evening to consult with me about the paper. I went through the email with her to make sure that the paper was the correct one being printed.

    When we realised the cover page she brought was at home, I told her that I could always cut the sheet with scissors. This was done later in the evening. For my second-to-last exam, the printer crashed at least six times. I think I was getting tired. Once that set of scripts was finished printing, I did the fixtures and then moved to the printer inside.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:17 am – 5:58 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #103) – Day #471

Date for Entry: (Thursday 27 March 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 01 August 2025)

[T2, W:12 – WD:55, (Td:3)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning I overslept and had to hurry down the road. I was able to hurry over the bus route running again. The bus on the side was in a rush. The other bus guy had stopped for me. As soon as I sat down, I realised it was "Eric" driving the bus. The same first single passenger chair that was shared had been fixed. He was stopping for persons, a man dressed as a security guard had begun to argue that he had a job to go to and couldn't wait. He then began to speak back to the passenger.

    The sky was grey like night. Some sun was there until I got into the staffroom. I had met Jessie's mother, too, along the way, and she was finding out when the exams were going to start, too. As it got close to the 4th period, I went to collect the pies. Some extra money came out, and I had to count it properly. When Mr Richard came out of the kitchen, he said that I didn't have to pay today. I was very surprised. He said that Miss Blandin-Maharaj had paid for me. It was so very nice of her, along with the biscuits that she brought for me yesterday.

    I went to eat them one time and went up to the library with my tray and copies of forms from yesterday. Miss Solomon took out the library's guillotine for me, and we got it set up by the table that had steelpan model projects. I could remember how she stressed the word "dull" when she said that the machine was very dull. She pulled down the first crank for me, and it was a perfect cut. She watched me for a long few seconds with her lips pulled in like a boss, lolz.

    She then allowed me to go ahead and try to cut some of the forms. I did about half of the stack and then put them back. She was saying that I could have finished the rest while I was there, but I needed to go and get the exam scripts printed.

    I had to rest the remainder of the batches to cut on my desk. There was a paper being run off one time. It looked unattended. The same pile of papers were left in the cabinet from yesterday. They have not been touched since yesterday. When the Social Studies papers were finished, I then ended up trying to wrap them, but "Tia" said that she would take them and staple them. Once her papers were taken, I got the first paper and began to run it.

    Mr Marlon came by, and surprisingly, we could not find the papers that I had done for him yesterday. When I checked the book, it was not signed out. He had to go back, and I didn't know what happened. Indera, too, looked like she didn't know. She began to hurry off to a meeting, it looked like, but I knew what I was doing.

    I recall Gloria telling me that the French paper would be submitted on long paper because Janessa did not like the look of it on long paper. During the day after recess, she was walking by the office door and saw the huge trolley with 10 big boxes of Chamex paper. She said that she can now bring back the short version of the test paper. She did that in the late afternoon. It was printed early because the exam date was closer.

    All the office staff went out to lunch and stayed long time. Patty was looking around for help, and there was not much. Indera was in the office with me while I continued making exam copies. At some point after lunch, Afisha came in and asked me at the computer if I had any supervision. I was a bit confused at first when she asked. She said that she and Jeanice both had supervision in the morning, and they needed someone to carry the timesheets. When it came to her asking how to get to the place, she said that she didn't know.

    The evening sped up quicker with the less people. I had a beautiful visit from "Cleo", and then Hamlet came to print an exam copy. He printed for himself and got confused about PDF page numbering and document numbering. When I realised what he wanted, I did the prints and showed him what I meant. He also asked about the fruits that he usually brings. I got a visit from "Choo Choo" again in the evening. She was asking if I was good, and I said I was okay. It looked like she was getting ready to leave.

    Mrs Santana also came by to drop off a paper. That paper was on top of the pile by the time I was ready to end the work in the evening. Indera was still with me when Afisha was leaving. She came to tell me to let her know what was going on tomorrow. Soon, everyone left early in my view, lolz. Miss Ali has been leaving early these past few weeks gone by. Mel came into the office and asked if I wanted a ride out. I got all the logging in the book, fone up quick, locked up the office and went to pack. We had to wait a while by the guard.

    Just before crossing the bus route, Mr Rishi said that he wanted to turn back onto the highway. I took a bus right after the red light, before it crossed the bus route. Thankfully, the seat behind the driver was empty for me to ask how much it would cost to get to Tunapuna. Luckily, I stopped the bus in time. I couldn't remember how the area looked from the bus route. I did remember that the hilltop is the cemetery, and then my stop. I took a walk up the road. Before the road to Massy's, a truck made a mistake turning into a one-way street. I waited, and then a man and I crossed.

    Someone had burned a tree down, too. I enjoyed the smell of barbecue being prepared, too. It felt amazing to be in the blue Mitchell House T-shirt on the road. I was glad to manage carrying a box with the forms I made for the teachers. Daddy met me out by the gate. He was surprised to see me with the big box. We laughed when he said he thought it was going to be something to eat or something nice I was bringing in the box. He couldn't believe I was bringing work home to do.

    That night, I carried my brown table inside and began to stick blue pieces of Bristol board I had cut into squares some nights ago to stick onto books belonging to me. These books would be loaned to the APC library. By the time I was some from 7:30, it was minutes past 11 PM. I didn't bother to cut the forms again. I sat on the couch and fell asleep there.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:56 am – 3:38 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #103) – Day #470

Date for Entry: (Wednesday 26 March 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 01 August 2025)

[T2, W:12 – WD:54, (Td:2)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning the waking was very difficult. I saw a humongous message from Jess on WhatsApp. I could have done a flip. The rain kept me back. Daddy and I had to make a run for it in Curepe. Thankfully, the light remained green for me to cross the road and get into a bus. I had to stand and wait for the fellow in the seat to slide across. A lot of people do that, and it's very annoying when they don't want to move.

    Praise God, the rain held up for me to walk down the road when I got onto Sixth Avenue. As soon as I got to the desk, I had a drink of water and then went to update my logbook. I didn't remember to get a timesheet yesterday, and I also forgot to print one last night. As soon as I got up to go and get a copy, "Hana" stopped me and said that she was looking for a PE exam, and she didn't find it. I told her that there were two PE exams done yesterday evening. She got up and went to the office with me one time.

    As soon as I entered, I told Indera, "Good morning." When we went to look at the shelf, it was right where I left them, and she signed them. As soon as I was telling Indera about the papers and how confusing the timetable was, "Hana" started to laugh and said sorry before she stopped. There was still a paper for Communication Studies (U2, P2). I will have to see if Mrs Santana could guide me on this when I see her. I had thought that I came to work and she began sorting out the papers one time. She had to get a key to open the tall cabinet.

    I then began to sort them out as she was asking me to find them in the order of the timetable. I got about four exams done for the day and had my alarm set to 10:40, where I would go and get the pies. They were a big, soggy mess today. Maybe because of the sauce from the Channa? The pepper was still really good. It took a while before heading back.

    Susan was talking about a short paper. That could have gotten me vexed, but I tried to ignore it. I saw Jeannice comfy in the corner as usual and doing nothing. When I went back to the office, I continued to work. Before I could have done that, there were two sets of prints for Mr Bain. One was for two students, and the other was for his Curriculum Officer. I had to wait for the paper printing to complete before doing them for him. I got a few short sheets from the VP's Office. Then I got his documents printed.

    At another point, he came to ask for copies of some SBA sheets for marking. I had fun inside also but on single sheets. He was able to use the stapler once. Rhea came into the room, talking, and she ended up conversing with Sir. I went back outside and saw Shiva with a document to print. I gave him some scrap paper to write the number. I also had to remind him to put his name on it so that I would know which teacher it would belong to.

    Mr Bain came out and was reusing his slip, too. The same prints now had to be printed for his students. Those were new forms, and everyone had to redo theirs. Miss Ali and Candice both went out for lunch and took forever to come back. Many of the parents were coming in for their children. I did have to help the parents when they came in. I also had to go climb up and pull down two boxes of the legal-size paper.

 

(** The rest of this entry is incomplete and could not have been recalled.)

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:53 am – 5:12 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #103) – Day #469

Date for Entry: (Tuesday 25 March 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 01 August 2025)

[T2, W:12 – WD:53, (Td:1)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning was not an easy one to wake up to. It took me a while on the couch and a quick and fast one out of the house. The ride to school was slow. It felt like a good decision to wear casual clothing today instead of a shirt and pants. The walk down was slow, but I still got there quickly. The staffroom was empty, and I sat there waiting for class. It had enough time to get far in the journal entry for yesterday, which looked like a looooong time to do, lolz.

    When Jess walked in, she said that the help she needed was for tomorrow and not today, since today is Day 1 and not Day 2. In the middle of it, near the end of the second period, I got a call from Indera about a Biology paper for Form 4 that she was not seeing. I told her I would come over. Just as I walked into the room, she was walking out to go to her meeting in Patty's office. She showed me with a look that it was completed, and it took a while to find the original. It had "printed" marked on it, but in her handwriting. So maybe it would have to be printed again.

    There was some stuff for me to print for teachers on their way to class. Mrs Santana came to print her exam papers, but she got upset when she sent the wrong thing. We had to cancel the print job. Thankfully, I was able to find the cancel button. I got the prints of her cover sheet and sample exam paper for her to take. She then had to run back to the hall because her exam was in progress. Jess and Miss Carthy were in the office too. She ended up running late to her 3F class. Not sure if she made it to class.

    I went to use the washroom and was going to get the pies, but then "Kimmy" came into the office. She brought her documents to be printed and scanned for her email. I did the scanning part after Candice did the printing. I got to see the original registration form for George was a typed-up document still. It could be a scan of the original document. There might just be some changes that I would have to make in my version. When the scanning was done, she sent her email.

    Candice and I walked over to Mr Richard for breakfast. He was chatting with his granddaughter. It was nice to have the regular bottled pepper again, like yesterday. I went to say hello to Mel before going back to the office. Indera told me that they got toner, so she told me that whenever I was ready that I could start. I went to cut some sheets of the wrappers that came with the paper for the printer. I recycled those as package wrappers for the teachers' prints and also for the exam batches. I got a few of them done today. Lunchtime came, and I did not have time to go to Mel in the back again. Not sure if Jeanice went to do the folder labelling. Thankfully, not many teachers came by.

    It took a while to get accustomed to using the machine after so long. Patty came back from going out earlier. I remember the parent who came to ask for the letter. I was about to call her, but she showed up. I did remember to ask Patty to sign it immediately when I heard her saying she had to leave the compound by 10:40. It just had to be printed. It was just me and Indera after school. Mr Martin came and delivered two papers again.

    "GG" came a bit later with another exam paper. She also had the CXC cover on the paper, so I had to redo all the covers with the piece of paper blocking some of the text, except the instructions. She also needed another sheet reprinted because the instructions got cut off. I stayed back later than expected and went through those very confusing timetables and wrote in the day of the exams onto the post-its. This was done in red ink pen to the top right.

    Once all the originals on her desk went through this, I went to get the departmental files. All of the pending originals were done the same, and I ordered them by date. I also inserted the session numbers in brackets below the dates. This is how the sorting was. I just hope that Mrs Santana got through with her stapling. She saw how I was sorting the pages from the printer and the cover pages that were already done. It was nice being complimented again.

    Miss Dayna was leaving when I entered. She was very surprised at the time that I was coming back to the staffroom with my tray. Ahe said that she thought she was the last one leaving today. I ended up leaving school, and the bus route was dead empty. The sun wasn't in my face as usual. The wait for transport was very short until a maxi came in. The driver invited me to the front, although the front is not safe for me. He had to ask me to put the seatbelt on.

    My arrival at home was very close to 7 PM. I ate first and got to work after showering. The three tiring pages of notations were done tonight. I then realised the lesson needed examples. Maybe tomorrow. Couldn't do much again for the evening.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:39 am – 5:27 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #103) – Day #468

Date for Entry: (Monday 24 March 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 01 August 2025)

[T2, W:12 – WD:52, (Td:6)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning, the challenge to wake was not easy at all. Then the shower decided to crash, so I had to go and get hot water to fill the bucket. The gate was giving trouble to open. I was telling Daddy, coming out of the car, that the wood and sawdust from the woodshop smelled like Canning's Sorrel and that as we passed the corner, it smelled like some nice Jerk Chicken.

    I was telling him that it would have been nice to have some of that Jerk Chicken now. He said, "Is bettah yuh doh eat dah now. Next thing it work yuh up like Andrew and he doubles." We laughed that out and saw Mr Sammy driving into the street like last week.

    The light was on red for me to cross the Main Road, but I had to wait at the Bus stop. It was a good thing that I decided to wait for the light to change. Two big vehicles with sirens came rushing down the empty street. There was a Maxi that pulled up, and one lady came out. I waited for the bus that was coming. Five people were coming out, and me with two people waiting to get in. The driver had a really loud horn that was more than overdosing on it.

    I saw a lady in San Juan start cursing because of it on the road. The music, too, was extremely loud as if we were on an excursion. I sat next to a boy who reminded me of Steven. Since the New Year came, I had to call him, but kept forgetting.

    There was another rush at the junction of Sixth Avenue. Nobody wanted to give me a chance. I took a run for it. Strangely enough, a man* decided to say good morning with a weird look. Maybe another car was creeping up behind me? Praise God, the walk down to school was swift and not that long. I saw "Puff" when I was getting off the bus. He went to the shop along the street first before continuing. It was nice to see "Hana" outside.

    The staffroom was empty. I went to pay for the pies one time. I saw "Jason" and his parent there, looking like he had been caught in trouble again. Dr Jogie was on his way out of the staffroom on my way back in. He said that he had left a Maths test in the office that which was for Thursday, I think. At least it was nice to see him smile a little.

    Mr Charles was asking when I was going to the office. I told him in a while. He said that he had some numbers to fix and not to print any of his Business papers as yet. I continued to sit at mt desk typing up today's entry. Only when he had finished consulting with Mr Raymond, he said that he had the numbers for me when I was ready. Couldn't believe how much typing so little bit of events for the morning could have tallied to. My fingers are beginning to feel so tired again. I didn't see any sign of Gloria or Donna either.

    I met with Mr Charles at the admin office, and he had five exam papers to submit as the last sets he had. We had some numbers to change, and then the logbook was edited. When I looked in the logbook, it was beginning to become very confusing. I thought that a form would be better to make instead of having to draw lines all the time. While doing this, there was a visit from Mrs Noons-Charles about her Social Studies exam that was due tomorrow. A long while had passed until Althea could resend the softcopy to the school email. It was printed in full, and she signed out. She was also asking if my hair was really that long all the time. We laughed.

    Mrs Libert came in to see about her Languages in Literature exam that was also for tomorrow. The Social Studies was coming out, and there was a long wait for RICOH to finish. I told her that I could work on it before school was over. She said that she did not want to have to carry it home to staple. During recess, too, Shiva came to ask for copies. Candice had to try and get the 11×17-sized sheets into the Ricoh, but later that day, she told us that the machine was not recognising the paper. At 10:40, I went to get the pies before recess was over. The wait was a little long. They used the nice pepper from the glass bottles.

    I went back to the office. Instead of the MMT meeting, there was a dean meeting with the Principal on student issues. I saw Miss Dayna and Miss Harrise there too, so it looked like a student matter. I saw "Jason" sitting in the VP's office with his parents. They were there for a long while. Artee came by, and she was making noise again, trying to study for her exams.

    Shiva came by, and then he asked why the prints didn't come out yet. I told him that the machine was taking too long and that "it was not my fault that this woman was rushing me." She left, and soon I was able to send the prints out. He got them and went to staple before counting to see if he had all that he asked for. Many students were signed out by me throughout the day. Donna got her exam printed. She was there after recess, using the guillotine to cut the legal pages. Miss Chote has asked me to do it, while I tried to help Marsha and Shiva out.

    Donna said that she had another Spanish exam for me to do. It was done later in the eighth period, and then when Marsha came back to get her copies, she said that it was not all that came out just by looking at the small stack. When Domna was gone and we went back to the VP's office, Patty was making copies. She said that she had to cancel the copies to make copies for the gentlemen from the Ministry. The job was cancelled, so I had to go and send the remainder of the copies to be done. Patty went to try out "Cera" to see how much she could get copied, and she said that she got through by shouting.

    Towards the end of the evening, before school, we heard that there was going to be a TTUTA meeting. I was outside alone, and Dr Jogie came to have a great chat with me along with Waveney. I told him that 50 of the 112 Form 4 Maths papers were done inside. When his meeting was over, he collected them. I told them that the next half was printing. He asked how long it would have taken. It was my estimate at about fifteen to thirty minutes. When they were done, I sent him a message. Luckily, he was still in school to do them. That was the last for the evening, or so I thought.

    I left "Celia" at the computer, doing punctuality and regularity at the computer. Didn't know she was coming over after "Kimmy" called me and asked for help sending an email. She had to go back because there were some other things she needed for the email. As soon as I walked into the staffroom, I saw "Cleo" and she had asked about the copies. I told her that we should probably go back to the office and get her prints done. It was three times already she came and couldn't get through. I had felt much better once that was completed because each time she didn’t get her prints.

    Donna was still in the staffroom. She was chatting with Mrs Santana and "Celia". I remember while colling down, "Celia" came in happy and laughing, calling my name. It was about finding out who was supposed to lock up the office. I took a walk up the road very slowly today. The wait for a maxi was also hard. I felt so tired. While eating, I was telling Daddy how Candice mentioned approval to go to the warehouse. They had to wait for the toner to come from San Fernando. I was praying that they got through.

    The rest of the evening was tough to go through, fighting sleep. I got two lessons typed and notation done for. By the time I had three long pages of notation for the third lesson, I called it the end of that for the evening. Next was the cutting of the Bristol board that I got. Daddy got me two sheets to cut into squares. When I was lifting one of the bags of books to carry outside, I put it back and just put the squares into a bowl. I will see about this tomorrow night.

    The rest of the evening was more researching until I decided to make trial attempts from those nights of researching. The first App* was faulty and not worth the time. However, it took me to a nice game called Word City. I moved on to another App to see what that experience would have been like. Still slow. I wonder what tomorrow night's questions will be like.

    One special thing that happened today was signing out a student at the gate. The guard came with the student and said that the parent was not in decent clothing to enter the school compound. When I went to ask Miss Chote to do she said that I could go to the gate, but if I was up to doing it. I took the signed form and the book for the parent to sign. It was my first time realising that the parents were allowed to keep the Exit form after leaving the compound.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(8:23 am – 4:28 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #102) – Day #466

Date for Entry: (Thursday 20 March 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 01 August 2025)

[T2, W:11 – WD:50, (Td:4)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning was another day I wished that I had stayed home. I was running a bit late. I was just hoping that we didn't have class in the first period so that I wouldn't miss class. Walking down Sixth Avenue, the nice speaking teacher in the Anglican school was speaking about works and actions and asking yourself if God would like it. I needed to drink some water when I got into the staffroom.

    When I got my folder out of my bag, I realised that the first four periods were packed for the morning. I took the teaching bag with me to 2L. The children were given a note on triads and the difference for the arpeggio. Jess was with them. She told me that she had some SBAs for the students in the school in the south to go through and mark during the fifth and sixth period when we had the Form 4s. She also asked me to correct the questions on the board.

    After my first set of speaking, I went to turn off the fans first, and then the continuation began. I showed them how to find it the long way in case they did not remember the scale by heart. I was feeling tired, so I left Jess to do the second question, and that was the end of the class. We had 3M after this. She gave me the keys in the staffroom. I had to go back for a drink of water. Some of the students were waiting outside the Music Room. I still did not remember the key that opened the door. Thankfully, the second one that I tried worked.

    Roberts showed up during the second period of class. I went through major scales and triads with the students that Jess wanted, and then we moved on to Key signatures for sharps up to A major and flats up to Eb major. They were given the Father-Charles listing, too. Time signatures and note trees were the last as recess came. I gave Roberts the keys and then went for the pies.

    I washed my hands before walking into the kitchen. "Maria" had a chat with me before she left that room. "Choo Choo" passed by, and she said she had something for me, and to excuse her for the deviation that got messed up on the way to school. The pies were very extra hot today. It was not the usual kind of pepper that they used. It gave me a nice burn. The tears were more watery than the last time I got that.

    Mr Charles was at his desk, and he asked if I had started to print any of his business exams yet. I told him no. He said to pause because there was something to correct. He also asked something about printing afterwards. I told him that the toner in the machine was done and all the prints had to be stopped. He was now asking, "So  how are my exams going and getting printed?"

    Before I finished eating, "Choo Choo" came and set a bowl on my desk. She had brought me two cupcakes. I remembered to take a picture of them. Thankfully, my fingers did not mess up the phone. I decided to have the two instead of keeping them for lunchtime.

    It would have been better to head off to the office right after class. Jess was with her laptop, going through different things. It took me a while to get up and go to the class. Some of the 3F children were playing in the court. They said that they had Visual Arts and that the room was closed for exams. The music students were in the music class practising. I listened to their pieces. They were not close to half of their pieces yet. Joshua's and Gabby's pieces were one page, Naima had four pages, and Kylah had two. I did tell Naima that I told Miss earlier to change her song. She was glad.

    At some point, Patty came in with a gentleman who was looking at the air conditioning units. She got to see me conduct the class a little bit. When they were gone, we moved onto the scales, and it looked like they had not been practising it either. We went through a few, and lunchtime came by.

    Jess was there too late. She and I spoke about working in the office. She mentioned that Form 5 moderation would be tomorrow at her old school. She would have to be going down there. It looked like George's Form 5 moderation would be on the same day, too.

    I went to finish my second bottle of water in the staffroom and then headed off to the office. It looked like the printer was still without toner, and that person had to be using the one in Miss Chote's room. The kind of disgusting things they were talking about in there, I got up and left. Even Althea was annoying again. I got up and went to see Miss in the Art Building.

    The gentleman coming to do the audits didn't come again. She asked if I wanted to help mark some of the stuff she just got, too. Knowing how sick I was, she said Go take a ten-minute break and come back. I had time to finish Monday's entry too by the time. When I got back to the building, it was 2:00 PM, and Miss was saying that she had lost the zeal to do the marking, but pulled all the sheets out to do them. She said she left the extra copies of the worksheets that I made on her desk. I took my stapler too when going back to get them.

    As soon as we had completed marking for the second option towards a student, I told her to staple the sheets together. I also noticed that a place for the overall theme was needed. We had to write it at the top of the form. The making went until 4:30 PM. There were some comments that I made on some of the pieces. She decided to send them as voice notes to the children one time on WhatsApp so that I did not have to write them down. We got a ride up with "Mr Hunte", mommy to Curepe. I went home to do a few books of cataloguing, and that was it for the night by 10:30 PM.

 

LINK(S):

• Visual Arts SBA Mark Sheet.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(8:10 am – 4:38 pm)

Day #467 – (7:41 am – 3:29 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #102) – Day #465

Date for Entry: (Tuesday 18 March 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 01 August 2025)

[T2, W:11 – WD:49, (Td:3)*].

Dear Diary,

    Today, I did not feel like coming to school again either. I got there eventually. I went straight to the office today to try to get more papers done. Indera was not there today. I got my tray and went in. Nice that "Hana" was the Acting Principal and Mr Martin was the Acting Vice Principal too. I got a message from Patty in the other SGC Staff chat that she would be in a workshop and that the logbook was taken out, along with the departmental folders with the exam copies to make prints.

    Recess time came, and I went to eat the pies at my desk. Richard had forgotten that I paid yesterday and that I didn't collect them. Some teachers spoke with me about their prints. I went back to continue the printing. Mr Charles was still there, and he was trying to fix an exam. There was a strange occurrence of a number indentation that could not be sent to the right side of the page, either by holding down the space bar or clicking alright.

    It just went down to the middle in the next line and moved only twice. I tried other ways. It was only when I copied that part of the paper and pasted it into a fresh file that it began to work. Once that happened, I had to copy and paste the upper and lower parts of the exam into the new file. It was workable now. A parent came and was very mean to Mrs Charles. Well, that worked him up and caused him to have to leave.

    Mr Harry came back another time this afternoon, and he got his copies of exams printed. I had the post-its labelled onto his papers and logged into the book by the computer desk. Miss Harris came after, and she sat there. She didn't like it at all when I shut the book and then placed it on the other side. She then said, "Why yuh close de book so for, sir?" She wanted help to get on the ORL. Not sure what that is either, but I learned it is a place online where you put submissions of marks for CSEC and CAPE.

    Earlier that day, too, "Hana" was showing me how to go onto that same CXC page to access forms that needed to be filled out. She went to the same place later in the seventh period to get a list. She and I sat back by the front computer while I tried to make a signature form for her. The tables were moving weirdly, but I was still able to get the documents done as we both intended. There was another annoying visit from "Tia" earlier that was pestering me. Artee came to retake her exam also. There was a wasteful conversation that went on for the rest of the evening, and soon the printer left me a message I was new to. It came to a pause, saying that the toner was empty.

    When Candice came, she opened the toner canister and placed it back in. The machine worked. It happened again sometime afterwards, and then that was it for me, an exam printing. I felt disappointed because I wanted to get all of the Upper School exams completed. Maybe it could get me the recess that I need. Patty came back, so Mr Martin was relieved of his Acting as Vice Principal. I didn't know if "Hana" was now VP.

    Back in the staffroom after 4 PM, Mel was insisting that I take a ride home in the car that was coming. The wait was a while. The nice guard came in and spoke with her for some time while I got to work on my entry for Monday. The driver was Mr Rishi. She was asking if I wanted to go with them, but I preferred to go home. I did a few more book catalogues that night. The night for me ended quickly. I didn't bother to watch Oak Island again. It still was not nice hearing Jeanice earlier that afternoon saying, "I just wish she would trip and bust her big face."

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:49 am – 3:37 pm)

WEDNESDAY 19^TH – (NO SCHOOL)

St. George’s College (Week #102) – Day #464

Date for Entry: (Monday 17 March 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 01 August 2025)

[T2, W:11 – WD:48, (Td:2)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning, Daddy had to knock on my window a second time. I used the same outfit for church today. There was a nice visit to the library for the Sunday School. Sadly, I did not remember to ask for a picture of us for the logbook. On my way onto Gordon Street, I got a call from Indera, and she told me that there was a Biology exam for this afternoon and that she was not seeing it. I told her that I would be there in the next forty minutes.

    After passing the St Augustine School, I called her back to see if she could get someone to get down some of the short paper since it finished on Friday. Daddy was reminding me that the short is the letter and the long is legal. I reminded him that sometimes when people are in a rush, you just go with long and short for them to understand quicker.

    As soon as I got to the school, I went straight to the office. I met with her and she said that she wasn't seeing the Biology paper, and it had to be printed. Soon "Hana" came, and when I told her about it, she said that Miss Chote had to look at the back of everything, and then she saw the reference copy with "printed" marked on it. She mentioned that she had found the paper and signed for it already. That was a big relief for me. Miss Chote was called to a meeting with Patty, and I was left in the office again. I had to go and get my tray from the staffroom.

    When I was leaving, "Choo Choo" called me out. She had these two small bags of sweets that she gave to me. And something wrapped up in a foil paper. It must have been cake. I left the two small packs on my desk and took the foil cake in my tray to the Indera office. Had to walk around because the entrance to the office was blocked. Looked like Patty was climbing up to get the short paper for me. The VP's office door was open, and I walked in. That was dangerous, but I got in.

    As I set the tray down on the desk, I went to the Science exams folder. As soon as I was with the Form 5 paper for Chemistry, I did not like the layout, for Indera came into the office calling me from behind her desk. She said that we need to leave the compound NOW and that there was an evacuation. Since it was a bomb scare, I did not know how long it would have been like in Valsayn. I took the laptop bag, an umbrella to shelter and some water in case the wait was long like the last time. The wait was truly long.

    Mel and I met in the same area with 3L. A long while after, they moved the entire school to the mango tree near the Anglican School. Mr Richard came, and he was doing sales by the wire gate. It was funny seeing them force the bottles of water through the fence when there was a break opening by the locked gate. That would have made life easier for them. Mrs Santana came to the lime with us. I took the time to continue writing my journal entries. It was good to see Miss Michelle again, and we waved at each other.

    Friday morning, it felt very exhausting to think that the whole week had passed, and I only got Monday's entry done. The wait continued to be longer. Soon, by midnight, we were spoken to by Patty back at the pavilion. The school was lined up by the year groups and sent back into the compound. I went back to the staffroom and I missed it. The air conditioning was feeling good.

    Without having anything to eat for the morning, I went to see what "Choo Choo" had left for me in the foil paper. It was a big slice of sponge cake that she made. It had the homemade icing on it. I ate it and went back to the papers. A small Form 1 girl came in to see if anyone had returned her missing cellphone.

    The rest of the day went quickly. I stayed there for minutes to five minutes before travelling out to Curepe. I remembered Jess coming into the office before she left. I was busy walking out with my laptop bag behind Miss Cross.

**********

    I can't remember exactly what was done for the remainder of the evening. This entry was continued on Thursday, 27th March 2025.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(8:05 am – 5:23 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #101) – Day #463

Date for Entry: (Friday 14 March 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 01 August 2025)

[T2, W:10 – WD:49, (Td:X)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning, I was given a call from "Jan" at 6:40 that there was a fire in a Form 1 classroom. It looked like a lot of students were absent. I was planning to stay home. I got up early and went to work on the second dean form, but then I decided to call Indera. It was better for me to call and see if it was safe to come to school. She said that it was okay to come and that it was only her and Patty there. She was also able to confirm for me that the compound was not under lockdown.

    Daddy came up feeling surprised. He said that he had already gone out on the road for the morning and didn't expect me to want to go to school. When we got to Curepe, we decided to get a pie from there because the cafe might be closed for the day. Daddy also purchased a coconut pie for Patty and Indera. The rain was coming down lightly. He gave me the broken umbrella to go down with. While waiting for a bus, “Sexy Bunny” was waiting to cross on the bus route. Thankfully, a nicer driver came, and he had good music playing. We had a nice empty road to the right.

    Light sprinkles fell. I had to hold the umbrella against the direction of the wind. It was already broken and bending upward in the other direction. The cool environment was nice to walk in today. I had to roll open the gate by the guard and then get in. Mr Bain was waiting up by the front, and now realised that we did not have school. I went to give Indera and Patty the pie, and they looked excited. Patty asked if I had eaten anything yet. I told her that I still had to.

    The staffroom was empty when I went to check and see who was there, but no teacher was there. Somehow, it had cars in the yard. I sat and ate my pie before going back. Going back to the office, I packed up my tray and went back. The nice Krocera guy was there. They ended up changing the machine password. He asked what the new number should be, and Patty looked to Indera. Indera then looked over me and asked. I spoke the numbers out for him.

    He also mentioned that every morning, the pages need to be fanned out as they can sometimes settle overnight. The rest of the day was a nice and cool day while Patty and Indera worked on the ASR. I still have no idea what that stood for, lolz. I worked on printing the exam papers.

    At lunchtime, Patty was heating her food, and long after, when she came out, she told us that it was soup. Indera was laughing at me when I found it smelling like spoiled Chinese rice. All that time was me making prints of exam papers. The teachers and students who went on the field trip came back sometime in the eighth period. They both left me at 2:30 when everyone had gone.

    Somewhere around 5 PM, Mrs Libert came and asked me if I wanted a ride to Curepe. I ended up falling asleep in the car. The fight to stay awake was tough. I got dropped off on the side of the Royal Castle, and my daddy was by the Pharmacy. Only when I called him did I realise he was in front of me. It took a long while for us to get home, and then the rest of the night was spent working on different things.

    Thankfully, the week came to an end. Even though I had intentions of staying home today but didnt it sure did feel like going to school to do work on a Saturday. My night ended at 10:37 that night. Not much more work could have been done.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(8:29 am – 5:36 pm)

7208

St. George’s College (Week #101) – Day #462

Date for Entry: (Thursday 13 March 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 01 August 2025)

[T2, W:10 – WD:46, (Td:1)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning I was lightly late. It was Day 1 today, so I had some time for class with 3F. As soon as I got into the staffroom, I went directly into my teaching bag to find the Form 2 coursework that I had made last term to give to the children, as I did with 3 M.

    Sadly, I could not find the original still, so I used the remainder that I had for the Form 4s and some extras. Three of the boys were on the basketball court when I went to check. Some of the children were given the paper in class, and the others came after I completed question one. These children were given the example of example for the first time. The rest of the class went well. We did not get to the second side of the paper as 3 M. I went to collect the pies afterwards.

    At the end of recess was my time working in the office. More test papers were done during that time of day. Another late day happened. During the later parts of the seventh and eighth periods, the printer had crashed. Patty came out of her office and saw me there on the floor, saying, "Mr Ali? What are you doing there on the ground?" I told her that the printer had crashed, and then she said to leave the machine alone if it crashed.

    Just some moments before, Mrs Santana came to speak with me about an English exam that was printed from the email yesterday. She said that she had given it to Indera earlier. This was happening while I was sitting on the floor. At the same time, too, Miss Sookhan had come by to let me know that her handout I scanned for her yesterday evening was correct and good enough to print. Later that evening, Patty was by the computer, and when she came to print something, I told her that the machine was sending me to the finisher conveyor for the paper jam.

    This was the first time I had encountered this kind of jam. I didn't even remember to ask who fixed the same jam that occurred yesterday evening, or what the issue was. Luckily, she opened the tower to the finished conveyor and took a look. The issue was around D1. When she opened that particular area, we didn't see any paper that was jammed. We opened the D1 and saw that no paper was there as yesterday.

    When she looked, she showed me that the paper was stuck in the place where the paper would roll out. She ended up putting her hands deep into the D1 and passed them there to get the paper out. She also had to pull out the A1 to get another sheet out. When the A1 was pushed in and the machine was closed up, the machine sounded of starting back up. When it stopped, another regular jam happened. She was tired and had me fix the regular jam. When that was done, the machine began to run fine. I ended up finishing by force when I ran out of paper.

    In the evening, I decided to work on a Dean's form instead of working on the rest of lesson 3. The tiredness and all of the music notation looked like I needed the weekend to complete all of that. The night came to a sudden end afterwards.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(8:17 am – 4:53 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #101) – Day #461

Date for Entry: (Wednesday 12 March 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 01 August 2025)

[T2, W:10 – WD:45, (Td:6)*].

Dear Diary,

    Today, the arrival at school was slightly late. Surprisingly, as I came down the road to the savannah, a lot of students were there in lines. Maybe it had a big field trip today? I knew I saw field trip forms registered for this week. As I got to the gate of the savannah, it looked like all of the teachers were in the field with the students and MTS workers, along with the security guards were standing on the pavement outside of the school's gate.

    When I got into the savanna, I heard "Hana" saying that there was a gas leak in the school. I met Mel by the pavilion with 3L, and we sat on the bench. The sun was very hot. Mel at some point showed me a text message the Indera had sent to the MMT chat about me to handle the exam papers on her behalf, and that she was in a District meeting. Mel showed me the message too, and I saw my name, but sitting down and thinking about it, I realised what she meant.

    In the meantime, Kalid shealtered some of us with his umbrella, and he kept on poking me with it, lol. While waiting, I gave Miss the exam template for her to do up the VAPA exam timetable. She and I had a good laugh about her name in the pencil writing. The wait was longer than expected, and then people were allowed to enter the school. Mel commented this morning, being a parents' day, and the leak occurred. I forgot about that.

    Only when "Patty" called the staff to give some feedback did I hear Dr Blandin speaking to Miss Garcia about it. The students were lined up according to their Form classes and walked back into the compound in a line. Some the the classes were sent to other parts of the school and away from the leak area. As soon as we got to the office, there was a hustle and overcrowding of parents and children. Some of the parents were being told that school was dismissed, which was not the case. Exit forms had to be made in bulk.

    "Hana" told me that she was the Acting Vice Principal. That means that she was helping out as "Pretend Vice Principal" for the day, probably? I knew in Valsayn she might have made that joke with me. She had asked me to make more copies of the Exit Form for them. It was amazing to see all those forms finished. I made thirty sheets and then cut them to put in the box. On a day like this, I was the only one again (in practical but also in reality) to hold down the office. There was no Candice or Miss Ali there.

    While that was going on, I went to assist Dr Jogie with some exam papers he came to check on. It looked like someone moved the maths papers from the upper drawer in the filing cabinet this morning. I needed to correctly explain a few times that those papers were the incomplete number of scripts completed before the machine crashed yesterday evening.

    He needed 112 copies of that Form 5 Maths exam, and only sixty-two were done. Dr Jogie signed for the other papers that were completed already in the same logbook and took them with him. The papers were stapled, and then I did the counting to find the total. Miss Chote's stapler was used. I did the subtraction and sent the paper back through the machine to get the remainder done.

    As the machine began and the original was placed back in its folder, I went to inform Dr Jogie about what happened. When he called "Kimmy: she said that the remainder wasn't needed, so the remainder was printed, and he came to sign for the rest. When those were completed, I went back to give him the papers. These were not stapled.

    I noticed Mr Charles being very observant those two times when I came to consult with Dr. Jogie. He eventually came, and there were two more papers to complete his batch of exam papers. One of the MOB papers was able to be printed. The other was giving a lot ot trouble. When I asked, he didn't prefer to give me the papers just yet.

    At the same time, Shiva came to see if "Patty" was available. He resorted to hurtful 'joke' comments to me. It was painful to take it all after what I experienced with Dr Blandin. It was already a very difficult thing handling Dr Blandin when she came with the desk labels for teachers. Mr Charles left soon after that was done. He took his papers back to the staffroom. Shiva wanted copies using the executive-sized paper. We didn't have any, and he said Candice mentioned having some in the office. He went back to the Technical Drawing Room to get some sheets. We got the prints done, and then he left.

    The room was free and calm at last. It was awful having the 'Pester Twins' around, too. It was good to see that the machine was working again. I remember earlier that when "Choo Choo" met me outside with my tray this morning, going to the office the second time, she said that I should make sure to brace myself because of the way it was. I knew the entire day would pass by, and I would go hungry again with no breakfast or lunch.

    Late into the evening, near the end of school, Miss Lewis had asked me if I could print her test paper. She even gave me the folder to do the copies, but wants to get the writing enlarged. "Patty" didn't come back to the office during the day to show me how to zoom the print. I was busy and forgot. She came by after school to see if I had done the copies, and I gave her back the folder from Indera's office.

    Only when I was finished with the exam printing did I decide to work on the copies for her. I gave her a call and asked if it was a picture of the paper. She said yes. So I asked her to email the softcopy, and I can try to work on it manually from the computer. Miss Sookhan had also asked for copies earlier via email. I told her to call me back when the email went through.

    In the meantime, I went to work on copies for Miss Sookhan. It was a lot of pages, and we were short on letter paper. I also had to call her and ask if she had a PDF of the document to see if I could get four pages of it onto one sheet of paper. She said she will search and see if she has it. Miss Lewis also hadn't sent the email yet.

    Miss Sookhan called back, and when I checked what she had sent and the document left in the office, they were two different kinds. She mentioned it was from a book that she didn't have. I told her that I could try to scan the document on the printer. That was the first time I tried to scan. I used a flashdrive in the office since I didn't have my one. The scan looked alright. I sent it off to Miss Sookhan by email to check for me.

    Miss Lewis then called me some short minutes after to let me know that the email was sent. I was already into the document. She had some tables, and I was asking if she wanted them to come off. The corrections in Word were used twice on each paper. She said that it was okay to take them out if I was able to. The images were stretched and reformatted. It looked better on screen and the same on the prints. Sadly, I was out of paper again and was not able to print Miss Sookhan's documents.

    The copies for Miss Lewis and the other remaining teachers were tucked neatly into my tray below and sent off to the staffroom. I locked up the office and turned off the lights first. Donna was still there, and she was on her laptop late. She was surprised that I was still there. I had the copies for the teachers delivered first before packing up my bags and walking out. That evening I only got the first two pages for the third Workbook lesson fone as suspected. I couldn't do much. I stopped to watch the new episode of "Summer House" before bed.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(8:11 am – 5:48 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #101) – Day #460

Date for Entry: (Tuesday 11 March 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Friday 01 August 2025)

[T2, W:10 – WD:44, (Td:5)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning was a late one. Thankfully, the first class began in the third period. As it was Day 5, today was going to be a Form 1 day. The morning walking down Sixth Avenue had a different feeling from the strange feeling yesterday.

    As soon as it was time for class, Jess was back at her desk. She came by and asked about yesterday. She also mentioned that she would have to go to the hospital for half a day. We went to class and had 1F right away. She said that she was going to do the major scales and the tonic triad. The session was very long. A lot of noise came from the classroom in front. They had Mr Pierre, who was retired. It was only then that I realised that there was no substitute, and then the same for Mrs Sawh.

    I went back to the office and began to help with the printing of exam papers, among many other things. Dr Blandin was asking me to help her type up the letter to parents for the Parents Day tomorrow. She also wanted me to type up the programme for tomorrow. The programme came out on one small portion of a sheet, and she started to make suggestions that I didn't want to do. I got up and left for the staffroom after a while.

    The staffroom was very cool and nice. She ended up meeting me and wondered why I left. After she spoke about me being kind in Valsayn, I responded that I was tired of being kind for the day. It took a while to get ready for class. I got to the class with an hour of school to go, and the lesson was done. It seemed like a long time had passed since I saw this particular class. They were alright, but thankfully, the responses were alright. I stopped the class as soon as I saw that it was 2:30.

    I went back to the office and worked again until late into the evening. Mel and GG were sitting, chatting. Miss Lewis was leaving with them. At some point in the chat, the question was about whether I was going to grow the hair longer, and Mel said that I could pass for a real Jesus. I told them that at one point, someone said that they could just call me Jesus instead. I told them that I was about to tell the person, maybe they should call me Immanuel instead. They laughed out.

 

Attempted Recollection of the Day

** Sunday 16 March, 2025 **

    I took up my bag and went up to Curepe. The second lesson for the Workbook was done tonight, too. I was looking at the third one and wondered how long it was gonna take to finish. It was four pages, and I was hoping to be tired enough to finish the third and fourth pages when I begin it tomorrow night. I had turned off the television from "Curse of Oak Island". I can't remember exactly what else was done for the night after that.

    The Dean's forms were watching me from the same folder that I brought from school. Not sure when I will get the time to recreate these forms. There was a different kind of paper jam that occurred in the finisher conveyor. The machine had sent me into the "tower D". I had never been in there before, and everything looked so intricate. 

    While following the instructions set out by the machine a few times, I gave up. This was late into the evening when everyone had gone. Candice was the first person to call. She didn't know how to fix that kind of jam. She said that she will message Miss Ali to see about it in the morning.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(9:14 am – 5:03 pm)