Sandy Baird

Anne Climie, Lorrie Jodway, Melinda Eubanks, Forbes Crawford Celia Wirth and another was Katrina Bennett...I remember others vaguely...wish I had a class list to remember names.

Watch demonstrators run through the playing field while the police chased them overhead with tear gas, skip religion class & fail it...spend all of my allowance on fudge and coconut candy at lunch, throwing out the lunches my mother packed!

Very welcoming for a 12 year old girl from New York who was a grade ahead of herself to begin with...I made many friends and learned a lot about the rest of the world.

I was at the Priory from 1968-70, before my family moved back to New York City. Today, after dozens of years in advertising, I’m a playwright and freelance scriptwriter/copywriter in Philadelphia, PA. I have a daughter who’s turning 13 this year and a son who will be 9. I am married to a man from Ecuador, which I attribute to the experience I had at the Priory of being part of an international culture.

I haven’t been back to Jamaica since I was 12, and that makes me sad. But I still have very, very strong memories of my school days at Priory. First there were many friendships – with Celia Wirth, Anne Climie, Melinda Eubanks, Lorrie Jodway and many others. Then there are the memories that are practically physical, they are still so fresh: Among them, stuffing myself on fudge at lunchtime, dreading sports days as I was always the slowest kid in my house, standing for what felt like days during the morning assembly, (since I was barely awake) and once, watching out the open side of our classroom as protesters who had trespassed on the Prime Minister’s or Governor’s Mansion (I guess it was) next door to school ran across the playing field followed by a helicopter right overhead – which eventually sprayed us ALL with tear gas!

I know there are more memories buried, and every time I read the website and see people’s photos and stories, I remember more. It’s a lot of fun to re-connect.