-Retired Principal Wilkinson Masters Chess

Retired Principal Wilkinson Masters Chess

by Nkosi Jones

“When I moved to St. John, my mom tried to enroll me in public school and the lady said no,” says the former Ivanna Eudora Kean High School Principal, Sinclair Wilkinson, “and since my mother and I were here illegally, we couldn’t even challenge the system. That was a real challenge for me.” However, not being able to enroll in public school was just one of the many challenges and experiences that he had to face growing up.

Mr. Sinclair Wilkinson, was born on April 2, 1949, and raised in Nevis until he moved to St. John when he was 15 years old. Mr. Wilkinson’s father died when he was still a child, and he has only one brother, who he hardly knows. He frequently visits his mother, Emily Wilkinson, who currently lives on St. Thomas. “One person who has personally inspired me is my mom,” he says. “She has always been a master in common sense.”

When I asked Mr. Wilkinson about the difference between growing up in Nevis and growing up in the Virgin Islands, he stated that growing up in Nevis had more of a “village” concept. “For example,” he says, “when you’re building a house, the whole village comes to help you; when a youngster is in trouble the whole village knows about it, and when you’re cooking outdoors, the whole village is invited. We had more of the brother, sister, looking out for each other.”

Unlike in the Virgin Islands, the people in Nevis did not rely on government as much. “The government didn’t get in between us. I never even knew about housing projects, and social security before I moved here, and I never remember the government intervening unless someone was doing something wrong. I also credit a lot of my respectable traits to my training in Nevis.”

In 1964, Mr. Wilkinson moved to St. John and the toughest part of his life began. “One of the biggest hardships that I had to face was finances, but it was never too bad. Since my mother worked to put bread on the table, I had to pay for school. It was hard to pay for uniforms, and I also had to pay for my transportation to and from All Saints. I worked for the money by cutting bush, running errands, and painting houses.”

Because he was an illegal immigrant, Mr. Wilkinson was not allowed to enroll in the public schools of the Virgin Islands, so he had to enroll in All Saints for his first two years of high school. Then, as the immigration laws became less strict, Mr. Wilkinson later went on to graduate from Charlotte Amalie High School in 1968.

I asked him, “What was your most memorable moment in high school?”

“In high school, I was getting ready to drop one of my hardest courses, world history. I was holding the pink slip in my hand and when I was getting ready to drop the class, the person who was teaching the class, Mr. Liston Davis, came into the office at the same time and asked what I was doing. I said that I was dropping a class and he wanted to know which class it was, and I told him, ‘I’m dropping your class,’ and he said, ‘No, you’re not going to drop my class.’ Mr. Davis then told me to get back in his class.

“I was dropping the class because I thought it was too difficult, but I went back and I did quite well, and because of that experience, it led to us associating at Kean High; he later appointed me to serve as the Chairperson at Charlotte Amalie High School and he also appointed me to serve as the Principal of Ivanna Eudora Kean High School. That, to me, is quite a memorable experience.”

Mr. Wilkinson always remembered the high respect for teachers in Nevis and always wanted to become one. “When I left high school, I wanted to be a teacher. I remembered the teachers in Nevis and how they used to take us in, even after school, to teach us English and math, especially math. They used to talk to us and give us some of their experience without any compensation. In Nevis, education was the key.”

Mr. Wilkinson eventually went on to the College of the Virgin Islands and then transferred to the University of Connecticut to earn his Masters in Education and 6-year doctorate.

By pursuing his dream Mr. Wilkinson did become a teacher. His highest point of teaching came when he was appointed as the principal of the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School in 1995. He snickered and took a pause when I asked him about his most memorable moment as principal. “I would have to say marching with Digna Wheatley in effort to set up the gym. There were people from the cinder building to the Legislature. Locals came out, veterans came out, and we had vehicles full of students coming in. The best part about it was that we marched peacefully.”

Today, Mr. Wilkinson is retired and most of his time goes in to his lifelong hobby, chess. “When I was growing up, I was not even thinking about chess. I learned the game when I was nineteen years old. A man named Adolph Potter taught me the game,” he said as he leaned back in his chair. He always seems relaxed when he talks about chess. “The thing I like the most about chess is that once you tell another chess player that you play chess, their arms are open to play a game with you.”

“Actually,” he continued, “the first time that I asked someone to teach me chess, the person refused me because I had no idea how to play. Back then, people labeled chess as a game for only ‘smart’ people. I went and picked up a copy of Chess for Dummies and taught myself the game. I always believed in board games, and since I wasn’t the best basketball or baseball player, I knew that I found a sport that I can enjoy throughout my entire life.”

Mr. Wilkinson has gone on to represent the U.S. Virgin Islands as their top player in the World Chess Olympiad for multiple years. Through chess he has traveled to Switzerland, Greece, Mallorca, Italy, the U.S. and Slovenia. “ Whenever I sit at the table it gives me a chance to reminisce on how far I’ve come. I can see by the level of my opponents the honor that is given to all of us by representing our countries.”

Mr. Wilkinson has worked hard his entire life and can now enjoy the rest of it. “I’ve enjoyed my whole life,” he says. Mr. Wilkinson admits that he has made some mistakes in life but he always carries himself as a honorable person. He is a Christian, a Rotarian, and he always encourages his students as he teaches. “I try to keep all of my students on the right track and show them that success come through hard work.” His motto is “Nothing that is worth having comes easy.”