Teachers Hailed for Long Dedicated Service

Eight teachers at the Brown’s Town Primary School in St. Ann have been recognized for a total of 228 years of service in the field of education.
They are Lois Harrison, Jean Smith, Patricia Brown, Sybel Johnson, Doreen Dixon, Donna Hamilton, Merlene Walker and Anthony Davidson, who have each served for 34, 31, 30, 29, 28, 26, 25 and 25 years, respectively.
An appreciation and awards luncheon for the educators was organized by the institution’s Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) on Thursday (May 6), as part of Teachers’ Day celebrations, at the Heart Hotel & Training Institute, Runaway Bay, in the parish.
Saluting the teachers for their dedicated service, guest speaker, Norma Walters, Justice of the Peace (JP) for the parish, said with such stalwarts, there must be something good about the education system.
Pointing out that teaching was a noble profession, Miss Walters said, “I have the greatest admiration for you who teach at that level”, describing the awardees as role models, facilitators, administrators, counsellors, inventors, parents and friends, who sought to make the institution a teaching-learning environment to benefit future lives.
“In your vocation, you teach true values and healthy habits to children of children,” she told the teachers, adding that sometimes children come to school almost ‘wild’ “but you train them and allow them to make an impact on their own lives.”
Hailing the awardees, Miss Walters said, “you are special people and the cornerstones of this country”, pointing out that the teachers had devoted themselves to the call of duty to help build the self-esteem of their students.
As part of the appreciation exercise, plaques were presented to the honourees for their invaluable service. Two of the teachers also won prizes including a weekend for two at the hotel.Brown’s Town Primary has some 1,600 students in attendance.