Heroes of the School System

“Fight to learn, fight to learn; You could end up in jail like a fool, if you don’t end the violence in school.”

That is the powerful message delivered in song by Kerisa-Marie Rawlins earlier this year to win the judges heart in the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) St Patrick’s Calypso Contest.

Just eight years old, Rawlins is already following in the footsteps of her father, Weston Rawlins, popularly known as “Cro Cro.”

Rawlins, who attends the Point Fortin Roman Catholic School, won a trophy and cash in the contest, which put her in the spotlight.

Sounding extremely pleased with her achievement, she said she was motivated to participate by her father. Her winning composition “Fight to Learn” was written by her father in “about an hour and it took me about two hours to learn.” She also entered two other contests in the southern borough and her confidence and talent saw her copping second spot on both occasions.

Considered the baby in the Rawlins family, Kerisa-Marie said having seen her father’s performances on stage she “wanted to know what it feels like, so I took part in the contest.”

Asked if she would continue singing calypsos, she quickly said, “Of course. I would go on singing even at secondary school.”

Sounding much like her father, Kerisa-Marie advised students in song “to use your common sense and stop the school violence.”

She added that the violence is nonsense and reminded students that they attend school to “fix up yuh future, not fight the teacher.”