Ann-Marie Adams is an award- winning journalist who lives in Connecticut. She is writing a book on school segregation and its impact on Caribbean immigrants. Email: annwritestuff@msn.com

Each April, thousands of Caribbean nationals board buses, train, planes and cars to cheer for Caribbean athletes. A significant majority of the audience is from Jamaica -- so much so West Philly is called Little Jamaica each spring.

After easily winning the 100-meter dash at Penn, track and field champion Asafa Powell concurred: “It’s like I’m in Jamaica. It’s crazy,” he said excitedly, breaking from his usually calm demeanor at a press conference.

Caribbean nationals displayed similar team spirit earlier this year at Madison Square Gardens. It was a sight to behold. Jamaican tack and field sprint queen Veronica Campbell, after she stumbled at the beginning of her race, sprinted to first place in the Millrose Games 60-meter women’s race.

Outside the Gardens in February, the bitter cold bit. Inside, cheers constantly erupted from the Caribbean crowd. The camera zoomed in, catching Campbell as she blushed; she was clearly buoyed by the warmth emanating from the crowd, which also cheered for Bahamian veteran, Debbie Ferguson, even when she finished last. They also cheered for another Jamaican athlete -- who had the misfortune of tumbling head first onto the track at the finish line and stayed down. The crowd paused to watch her body jerk while she sobbed. Moments later, the young woman stopped crying and, like a fawn rising from the ground, stood and walked away with her head high. The crowd cheered again.

Caribbean nationals consistently come together at sporting events to cheer whenever their talents are on the world’s stage, boosting athletes’ confidence and morale in victory and defeat -- so much so our athletes are the envy of other nationals who compete without as much support.

If only we could transfer that special team spirit to every classroom in the Caribbean, eh?

In one school, out of the media’s spotlight and away from bustling tourist sites, individuals are cheering on our students. On Grand Bahama Island, District Superintendent Sandra Edgecombe is one among many.

Edgecombe honed her cheerleading skills as a teacher and a principal of one of the poorest schools in her region, where they only had $2,000 for per pupil spending and lots of hope. So she had to be resourceful. She relied on her ability to make students enveloped in an economically depressed area feel special; she made them believe they could do anything they wanted to do. That was enough to arm them with unshakeable confidence. With this simple support system, she said, her students excelled academically, surpassing the rich and resourced-filled private schools in The Bahamas.

Besides providing moral support for her teachers with instructional acumen, she enlisted help from former scholars, now working in corporate Bahamas. When she spotted them on the street, she asked them to give $100 to the school that helped got them those lucrative jobs. She said she used the money to reward students with little treats when they excelled behaviorally and academically.

“It wasn’t much. But little by little, it helped,” she said. Edgecombe’s optimism and bright smile were enough to warm the room and this reporter’s heart earlier this year. She continued: “To teach is to touch a life forever.” Edgecombe, recently promoted from principal to superintendent, will touch many more lives—just like other educators toiling away in the field, cheering on our students amid harsh realities.

At times readers write to ask me for solutions to issues that arise from our struggle to overcome the unbearable. One way I try to address those concerns is by sharing ways in which others are cheering on our students. I’ll continue to introduce best practices in this monthly column. If nothing else, we can learn from those who encourage our students, just as much as we encourage our athletes. 

If you know of best practices in your area, tell me about it. Maybe your story will be highlighted in this column. Send suggestions to annwritestuff@msn.com.