A new winner has been named in the Continental Society Mother of the Year Essay Competition -- and she is battling hard to get her children the education they need.

Sharon Laverne Smith was crowned yesterday after judges selected the heart-warming essay from her son, Jorde, 11.

Jorde, who goes to West Pembroke Primary, had told his mother he had written an essay about her efforts to get teaching support for her son, but forgot to tell her it was entered in a competition.

When she heard the news, Sharon started to cry.

Jorde has dyslexia, she said, `so for him to write a letter like that was "very fulfilling''. His brother, Pierre, also has dyslexia. In his essay, Jorde wrote that his mother "treats me like I am the best kid in the world.

She got me into lots of sports and makes sure that I go to the Reading Clinic to get the help that I need. She makes sure that I have healthy food. She is very energetic and incredible!'' `She is the best mum in the world Jorde concluded: "Even if my mother doesn't get chosen to be mother of the year, I will always love her.'' Sharon told The Royal Gazette that Government schools such as West Pembroke only provide two hours a week of learning support for students with disabilities.

"It's not enough,'' she said. "After that they go back to their regular class, where the teacher has to focus on three different levels at once; the high-flyers, the average students, and those that are below average.

"So the teachers get stressed. Children failing don't always want people to know, so they keep quiet about it.

"They fail like that and they just give up, and react negatively to society because they feel no one wants to help.

"They end up at Social Services, Financial Assistance, or prison.'' Ms. Smith added: "There is not funding for special education at all in the Government. Special education schools were closed five years ago.'' So, seemingly with no other options, Sharon Smith took action herself.

She did her research, and discovered that at Sandys Secondary Middle School there is a `Learning Style Programme' where children learn in a fashion suited to them. "They have some private funding, so nearly all the teachers are trained in the Learning Styles Programme,'' she said. "I was very impressed with what I saw there.'' Sharon Smith therefore decided to write a letter to the Ministry of Education asking that her children be allowed to attend Sandys Secondary instead of Dellwood Middle School, which students from West Pembroke usually attend. The Ministry decided to allow the switch.

Ms. Smith also had Jorde assessed by a Government child psychologist. She then took this assessment to the Reading Clinic, where Jorde was assessed a second time. He now attends the Reading Clinic three mornings a week before school, to receive special instructional teaching.

Ms. Smith also took it upon herself to attend the annual Learning Disabilities of America Conference in New York last February to learn more about Jorde's condition.

And she and her children belong to the Bermuda Overcoming Learning Disabilities (BOLD) organisation.

"The Ministry of Education needs to do more for our children with learning disabilities,'' she concluded. "Jorde would have just been passing through the system if I wasn't paying attention.'' When he heard that his essay had won, Jorde could not believe it. "I was the winner over everybody?'' he asked in amazement.

Jorde is an artistic young man who also takes classes at Masterworks Foundations Gallery, entering a sunset picture in the Front Street Art by the Sea exhibition on May 20.

They have not yet been told what exactly is included in the "host of prizes'' they have won, explained Ronette Smith, as the school and the Continental Society want it to be a surprise.

In the Monday morning assembly at West Pembroke, however, all will be revealed to Jorde and his family.

This year, the Committee asked Primary Five and Six students from all the Government schools to submit essays on why their mother should be Mother of the Year.

"We had an overwhelming response,'' said Ms. Smith.

Congratulations: Jorde Smith and his `Mother of the Year', Sharon Laverne Smith.