JTA honours colleague who led the search for Nattalie Dawkins

WESTERN BUREAU:

THE JAMAICA Teachers’ Association (JTA) has publicly honoured Ann-Marie Robb, the teacher who spearheaded the search for Nattalie Dawkins, the Clarendon teacher who went missing on March 30 and was subsequently found dead in bushes on April 8 this year.

Robb, a teacher at the Garvey Maceo High School in Clarendon, was awarded in absentia with a special Heroic Deed Award for her role in starting the search for Dawkins, who was forcefully taken from her Four Paths home by men who also stole her car.

The award was made during the second day of the JTA’s 57th annual general conference at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Duncans, Trelawny.

Following the discovery of Dawkins’ body, two men – Eladio Goulbourne and Mario Headley – were arrested and charged in relation to her death. A third suspect, Jeff Bedward, was shot and killed in a confrontation with the police on April 3.

During the presentation of the award, acting master of ceremonies Leon Nash paid tribute to the years-long friendship between Robb and Dawkins, both alumni of the Church Teachers’ College in Mandeville, Manchester.

“Mrs Robb knew Ms Dawkins since high school, but their friendship grew closer after that ... since then, they shared a continuous friendship that was remarkable. This teacher extraordinaire, Ms Dawkins, will never be forgotten, and her memory will live on forever in your hearts, as well as in Mrs Robb’s heart,” said Nash.

Robb was one of 12 persons to be specially recognised by the JTA, along with various committee awards recipients. The three-day conference, which had the installation of a new president as its major highlight, was staged under the theme ‘Bridging the digital and social divide: Transforming education for economic development and sustainable development.’

In a brief address to the awardees, Education Minister Fayval Williams praised them for being uplifting examples of Jamaica’s teaching profession.

“You have set an excellent example for others to follow, and you choose to light a candle instead of cursing the dark. Tonight’s awardees represent all that is good about the teaching profession,” Williams said.

AWARDEES

The 12 special awardees, and the awards they received, are as follows:

· Ann-Marie Robb, teacher at Garvey Maceo High School in Clarendon – Heroic Deed Award;

· Roymane Robinson-Munroe, early-childhood educator – JTA Chairman of the Year Award;

· Violet Thomas-Thompson, principal of Victoria Primary School in Clarendon – WBC Ben Hawthorne Award for 20 or more years of service in the JTA;

· Onex Bowen, principal of Mt Zion Primary and Infant School in St James – WBC Ben Hawthorne Award;

· Eaton McNamee, principal of Broadleaf Primary School in Manchester – WBC Ben Hawthorne Award;

· Melissa Beckford-Simpson, teacher at Convent of Mercy Academy ‘Alpha’ in Kingston – R.C. Tavares Award for JTA members no older than 40 years old and who have been members for seven years or more;

· Chrisann Whittingham, teacher at Merlene Ottey High School in Hanover – R.C. Tavares Award;

· Howard Letford, teacher at Braes River Primary School in St Elizabeth – R.C. Tavares Award;

· Horace McCallup, teacher at William Knibb Memorial High School in Trelawny – R.C. Tavares Award;

· Stephanie Wright-Grant, teacher at St Jago High School in St Catherine – Edith Dalton James Award for 25 or more years of service in the JTA;

· Panceta Walker, teacher at St Aloysius Primary School in Kingston – Edith Dalton James Award;

· Joan Blackwood-Simpson, principal at Ebenezer Primary and Infant School in Manchester- Edith Dalton James Award.