Veteran Educator Recognised for Her 42 Years of Dedicated Service to the Education Sector

When Daureen Wallace accepted the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) Golden Torch Award at the AC Hotel in Kingston on July 1, the applause marked more than 42 years of service in education.

It celebrated a journey that began with a young woman who never planned to become a teacher, but who answered a call that others saw in her before she saw it in herself.

Today, Mrs. Wallace is the head of the Home Economics Department at Norman Manley High School.

In an interview with JIS News, she shared that she hails from a little district called Pigeon Valley in St. Andrew.

She attended Unity Primary School and then went on to Oberlin High School.

“My teacher saw something in me because I went from high school to Edith Dalton James Community College in Hannah Town and I was an outstanding student in that class that year, and I was called back to be an assistant teacher,” she said, adding that she started teaching at 17 years old.

She shared that her mentor also saw potential for training and she went to Vocational Training Development Institute (VTDI) and earned a certificate in food and nutrition.

She shadowed her mentor for a while and then served as the teacher for a couple months when her mentor participated in the Jamaica Organization of Youth and Student Tourist (JOYST) teacher programme overseas.

“I remember the director for the community college did my assessment and he said to me, I am seeing great potential in you, and I think you should push for this,” she said, adding that the conversation led to her pursuing a diploma in food and nutrition at VTDI.

“I enjoyed it and I was teaching persons older than myself at that time. I remember I had a student who was like 35 who could have been my mother at that time and I was like very timid to talk to her. She said, no, you are in charge, so you have to stand your ground. So, I was nurtured into the profession,” she recounted.

After teaching in Hannah Town, Mrs. Wallace joined the teaching staff at Norman Manley High School in September 1994, where she has remained ever since.

During that period, she completed a degree at the International University of the Caribbean in guidance and counselling.

The Golden Torch Award is presented to teachers who have completed at least 35 years of continuous service.

Mrs. Wallace told JIS News that she knew of the award for years but did not step forward because she doesn’t like the spotlight.

“I said to myself, I don’t think I’ll be doing much longer in the classroom. I may do another year or two and I said, I think this is the moment,” she explained.

Reflecting on her 42 years in education, she told JIS News that she has no regrets.

“I have had some good moments. I have had some bad moments. I worked in the volatile Hannah Town community and that was not an easy task. But once you’re working in a certain community, the community protects you when they realize that you’re a teacher. So, I think those years really prepared me for where I’m at now at Norman Manley High School because it is very challenging with the students that we have to work with,” she said.

For Mrs. Wallace, the greatest reward has never been plaques or ceremonies.

It has been watching uncertain children grow into confident young adults, then return years later with words of gratitude.

“That alone is satisfying and sometimes you are in some situation or some environment, and you hear, ‘Miss’, and when you turn around, it’s a past student giving you special treatment. It really gives you that humble feeling,” she said.