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OCHO RIOS, St Ann - Audrey Sutherland-Grant has been doing the extraordinary, showing up at school since last September to directly supervise some of her students for whom she thinks learning online while at home was not a good fit. "I realised that the students would be in risky situations at home, and so I come to school in the days just to facilitate them and have a safe place for them to be," she said. "Sometimes students are left alone at home with little or no guidance. I became aware of those situations; students may tell me online or I may get hints."For almost two years most students were at home participating in online classes after the Government halted face-to-face learning to help fight the novel coronavirus.Sutherland-Grant, a grade six teacher at Ocho Rios Primary School, initially joined the new normal - teaching from the comfort of her home.But that comfort eventually started to wane when she began to discern worrying signs in a handful of her students. She decided she needed to get back in the classroom and take them with her.Sometimes up to six students show up at the school on weekdays to benefit from Sutherland-Grant's benevolence.She often stays at school with some of them until 5 o'clock in the afternoons, long after regular work hours, and she does not expect any form of extra compensation."Sometimes the parents are not at home until that time, and so I try to be here just to ensure that the students are in a safe space until the parents or guardians are available," the educator explained. "I could have stayed in the comfort of my home but these students need help. I could not feel good in my comfort zone knowing that these children are at risk. I have to do what I have to do."Students who show up participate in online classes at school while strictly observing protocols implemented to fight the novel coronavirus.Sutherland-Grant pays close attention to them while she, using a laptop that screams out for repairs, connects with 73 other students who join her class from their homes. she teaches social studies and language arts.The Government recently announced that face-to-face learning will resume in all public schools this month, an announcement that has found favour with Sutherland-Grant."We need it," she said emphatically. "Children learn best when they are around each other and are able to interact."The Jamaica Observer paid an impromptu visit to Ocho Rios Primary on Monday to observe preparations being made for the resumption of face-to-face classes next week Monday and found Sutherland-Grant busy at work.She sat at the front of a class on the virtually deserted school campus. Only one student, Jahiem Brown, showed up that day to benefit from his teacher's direct supervision."I feel good; I learn better at school," he told the Observer. His mother, Joy Burton, who is a janitor at the school, stood in earshot.She explained that her son was not participating in online classes sometimes when she left him at home, and so Sutherland-Grant advised her to take him to school with her."I really appreciate that she can teach other pickney and my kid who was not working at home as him suppose to. When I bring him down here [to stay with Sutherland-Grant], him sit in class and duh him work," the mother said, taking a brief break from her janitorial duties.Sutherland-Grant's special effort has not gone unnoticed by her Principal Suzette Barnes-Wilson, as well as her grade six supervisor Simone Morgan-Ellis."We have teachers who are going above and beyond; it's like they forget about themselves and their families just to ensure that the students are catered for and catered to. They should be commended," Morgan-Ellis asserts.Sutherland-Grant is not just going the proverbial extra mile where academics is concerned. She is also a member of the Kiwanis Club of the 'Garden Parish' and faculty advisor for the K-Kids Club at Ocho Rios Primary.In 2015 she, along with the club, established a study area at the school. Inspired by that project, UNESCO declared the institution a friendly school. However, the study area is in need of a shield to protect students from the elements, and so Sutherland-Grant is trying to secure the necessary sponsorship.Although she was born in Kingston, Sutherland-Grant grew up in different parishes.As a result she attended various schools: Friendship Primary in St Catherine, Exchange Primary in St Ann, Morgan's Forrest Primary and Aenon Town Primary in Clarendon, as well as Christiana High and Knox Community College in Manchester.The alumna of Bethlehem Teachers' College has been teaching for 25 years. Before her journey brought her to Ocho Rios Primary in 2007, Sutherland-Grant did stints at Golden Grove All Age, Ocho Rios High and Parry Town Primary - all in St Ann.Teaching was never her first love; it was psychology, she disclosed, while quickly adding that she has absolutely no regrets about becoming an educator."Nothing gives me more joy than when I see a successful person who passed through my hands; that's how I know I have made an impact," she told the Observer, adding that some of her former students are now doctors and guidance counsellors.Although she intends to pursue psychology, Sutherland-Grant has no intention to drift away from children. "I am going to pursue that dream, but it would have to involve working with children," the mother of a 23-year-old son said.