'I just love teaching'

Dave Lindo, Gleaner Writer

ROSE HALL, St Elizabeth:

ANNETTE POWELL has made a significant contribution to Jamaica's education sector where she has served for more than 38 years. During her tenure,. She touched the lives of hundreds of students, many of whom have gone on to excel in their respective fields due to her early influence.

Powell is from the rural district of Rose Hall in St Elizabeth where she attended the Red Bank Elementary School.

From a very young age Powell developed a love for teaching. As she explained: "I am from a family of teachers. I just love teaching. I also admired my Class-A teacher, Amy Hewitt who was so loving and kind to us, so I told myself that I wanted to be a teacher just like her."

After leaving elementary school, Powell worked as a pre-trained teacher at The Woodhall Elementary School for two years before enrolling in Bethlehem Training School, now Bethlehem Teachers' College, in 1951.

Powell graduated from Bethlehem in 1953 and then went to Race Course Elementary in Clarendon, where she taught for two years. She moved from Race Course and went to Frankfield Elementary in upper Clarendon, where she taught for five years. "It was at Frankfield that I met my husband, Cyril Joslyn Powell. Håe died recently," she said.

Appointment

Powell and her husband relocated to the Vere plains where CJ, as he was popularly called, was appointed principal of Alley Elementary School. After spending 10 years at Alley, she moved with her husband to May Pen Primary on his appointment as principal of the institution. "My husband spent nine months at May Pen before the Ministry (of Education) sent him to Porus Junior Secondary as principal because they said the school needed special attention."

Powell joined her husband in January of the following year, and along with the other members of staff, they worked hard in lifting the standard of the school.

"The children worked well and got good results," Powell said. "We were the first junior secondary school to send our students, five straight, to training school at Church Teachers' College in the 1970s."

While at Porus, Powell furthered her studies at the University of the West Indies after which she worked as an education officer. "I retired in 1988 and thought I would get some rest, but it wasn't to be as that same year, I got a job at HEART Trust working from the Manchester office for another 10 years before retiring," Powell said.

The retired educator, who at the age of 82 still drives her own car, said she has fond memories of teaching. "I remember the days I rode horses across rivers and go and look for my students who didn't come to school," Powell recounted.

"I love my students. My favourite area was reading, and I spent a lot of time teaching my students to read and write. Many of my past students have gone on to be accomplished writers. If I was to relive my life, I would do it all over again. I found teaching to be it very rewarding."