WESTERN BUREAU:

"It is a new step in life," says 11-year-old Demoy Kerr, who will make the transition from primary school to high school today at his new frontier, Cornwall College, in Montego Bay, St James.

Demoy told The Gleaner that orientation at his new school last Tuesday offered an excellent opportunity to get familiar with his new surroundings, meet new friends and his new teachers.

"Although I'm at a different school, I don't feel out of place because a lot of my friends from primary school will be here too, but I am just looking forward to meeting new friends," he said enthusiastically.

A past student of Barracks Road Primary School in Montego Bay, Demoy's father was killed in the United States, but the youngster was only told of his death after completing the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).

"My father worked in Virginia where he got a promotion. But another employee did not like the fact that he was promoted and so my father and his boss (who promoted him) were shot and killed by this employee who is now on the run," Kerr told The Gleaner in June.

Sorrowful

The tragedy occurred on March 21 - almost a week before GSAT. Shock and sorrow overcame Demoy, The Gleaner learnt, after hearing the news.

His mother, Michelle Kerr, said that despite the financial challenges of being a widow with two children in high school, she remains optimistic.

"I have to remain strong for them because my stepdaughter lost her mother when she was seven and now she has lost her father," Kerr stated.

"I am the source of strength for the two. In spite of it all, I believe that Demoy is adjusting well to his new environment and will continue to do well."

sheena.gayle@gleanerjm.com

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