Meet four-year-old who wowed drama festivals

As soon as she started speaking, Beulyn Schola was already passionate about being a teacher - like her mother Susan Makale.

The four-year-old girl is also lucky that her mother is the head teacher at Adon Growland School, where she is currently a PP2 pupil.

Ms Makale said the minute she joined PP1, Schola started role-playing as a teacher, both at home and at school.

Speaking to The Standard on Saturday, Makale said her daughter could sit her and he husband down, take a pencil and start writing on the wall.

"She could ask us to sit down, keep quiet when we made noise and even though she could not fully comprehend what she was teaching, you could see the passion in her," said Makale.

She added that at school, whenever a teacher left her class, she could walk forward to the board, take a chalk and teach her fellow pupils.

With her courage, commanding voice, assertiveness and passion, Schola developed a skill in dramatised Solo verse, something her class teacher Jackline Onyiego noticed.

Onyiego said it was easy to notice because Schola was a bright pupil. She said she approached her and asked her what she wanted to be in the future.

"She said she wanted to be a teacher or a pilot, but I saw the passion of teaching in her and we decided to develop it through drama," she said.

Onyiego said since 2016, the school has been participating in Drama festivals and in 2023, they decided to involve Schola in it.

She noted that it would be prudent to write a poem in line with teaching, to not only make Schola perform better, but also help nurture her talent.

Together with Schola's mother, they wrote a poem 'My Teacher' and directed Schola to dramatise it.

The poem told of a child who wanted to be a teacher, but her mother, who was a doctor wanted to force the child to follow suit.

The child, who was role-playing teaching mathematics in the house, cried and later told her teacher that her mother did not want her to be a teacher and was forcing a career on her.

However, the teacher, who was very close to the child, helped convince the mother to allow her child pursue what she was passionate about.

Makale said that Schola participated in the sub-county competition at Mercy Njeri Primary in Nakuru and won.

"She participated in the county competition in Naivasha and became number two but she was allowed to proceed to the regional level in Kitale," said Makale.

At Kitale, Schola became number two but she was the best loser and was allowed to proceed to Mombasa for the nationals.

"Schola won in three categories; Winning Solo verse in Kenya, Best solo verse in English in Kenya and Most creative solo verse in Kenya in the Nursery categories," said Makale.

She added that the girl was awarded three trophies, eight certificates and qualified to go to gala and also perform for the President at State House.

Schola said poems are her best songs in the world. She said she loved to be a teacher because of her parents.

"I love my teachers because they teach me well. If I do not become a teacher, I want to be a pilot," she said.