Junior Achievement Jamaica thanks teachers Pt II

Junior Achievement Jamaica will honour 14 teachers as part of its annual Champions for Youth Awards banquet on May 29. Today, we highlight three of these great teachers.

Yulanda Parish, Empowering deaf youth

St Ann

Yulanda Parish believes that she is 'naturally connected' with deaf children and is determined to mentor and motivate them as much as possible. She has an incredible zeal to ensure the holistic development of her students, so much so that she spends many hours outside of regular school time honing their academic, social, and soft skills.

"I have a lot to offer them. I also want them to access far more opportunities than I was able to, as more doors are now being opened for deaf youth," she said.

Parish, who currently teaches grade one at the St Christopher's School for the Deaf (STC), attended the Danny Williams School for the Deaf, and later transitioned to Lister Mair/Gilby School for the Deaf. Thereafter, she earned a scholarship that enabled her to complete an Associate of Science degree in computer applications and general studies from the Mount Aloysius College in Pennsylvania.

With 11 years in the classroom, Parish finds fulfillment in being able to assist deaf children to be on par with their hearing peers and function efficiently in the society.

"I don't settle for less. I employ many creative approaches with my students, making adjustments where necessary to help them learn."

Having a strong desire for deaf youth to be prepared for the world of work, Parish did not hesitate in accepting the task to teach Junior Achievement programmes at STC. She noted that one of these programmes, the Junior Achievement Ourselves programme is beneficial in helping her grade-one students to understand how to earn, spend, and trade money.

"Students sometimes lack background knowledge about themselves and the world, however, the practical activities in the Junior Achievement programmes help the students to connect to things and events happening in the real world," she explained, "I want to see all deaf youth become empowered and become more involved in a wide range of quality programmes for their development."

Careen James-Barnett

Giving hope to Jamaica's future leaders

St Catherine

When Careen James-Barnett entered the teaching profession at the age of 19, she was confident that she wanted a job that would allow her to inspire students to achieve excellence. Her track record over the past 15 years proves that she has been taking this task very seriously, having consistently led her students at St Jago High in achieving over 95 per cent passes in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination in Economics since 2000.

She attributes the success of her students to her passion for teaching and the strategies she employs to reach all students at their various educational levels and interests.

"I am a highly motivated teacher who is student-oriented and possess a strong commitment to the overall development of the educational system," she explained, "I want to see both staff and students excel."

James-Barnett goes the extra mile in helping students by giving them individualised attention outside of scheduled classes.

"I also conduct seminars and workshops with my students to prepare them for external exams."

Her willingness to go beyond the classroom is also evident in her taking the lead to organise students to participate in two programmes offered by Junior Achievement Jamaica (JAJ) - the JA Personal Finance and the Junior Achievement Company of Entrepreneurs (JACE) programmes.

In expressing the positive influence that Junior Achievement has on students, James-Barnett recounted her own experience in participating in the Junior Achievement Company Programme as a student at St Jago in 1991.

"I was the finance manager of our student company. Marcus Steele, the chief executive officer of Carreras Limited, headed our company while he was a student at St Jago, so you can clearly see the link between Junior Achievement's programmes and preparing our future leaders."

The students at St Jago have been following in the path of their predecessors, having placed in the top five companies in the 2011 JACE programme. Additionally, a past student, Shereen Henry, represented Jamaica at the Next Generation Leader's Forum in Canada in 2011.

She credits the success of the programmes to her supportive co-workers, especially Ardene Jones, vice-principal of St Jago High, as well as JN Fund Managers and the Financial Services Commission, who sponsored and volunteered in the execution of the JACE and JA Personal Finance programmes, respectively, at the school.

Dayle Evans

Called to teach

Trelawny

Dayle Evans has a passion for business and a love for teaching. He now enjoys the best of both worlds, being a teacher of the business subjects, principles of accounts, principles of business, information technology, and management of business at Holland High School since 2003. He also leads students in their practical entrepreneurial experience as part of the Junior Achievement Company of Entrepreneurs (JACE) programme.

"I have a strong commitment for students' academic success. I am sure that teaching is what I am called to do," he expressed.

Evans wears many hats including vice-president of the Jamaica Association of Computer Science and Information Technology Teachers, dean of academics and coordinator of internal and external examinations at Holland High. His contribution to education resulted in him being appointed Master Teacher of Business by the Ministry of Education in 2008, a position given to teachers who, among other things, demonstrate excellence in their current practice and contribute to the development of the school, community, and country.

He employs innovative approaches to help his students excel, including the development and maintenance of online class groups through Edmodo and Blogspot.

" I have an inherent drive to search for and utilise new teaching strategies in my lesson delivery," he said.

His hard work and service to students have been recognised and have led to him receiving several other awards including the Carlong Publishers Award for Contribution to Education in 2013, and the Jamaica Teaching Council Award, and the Ministry of Education Excellence in Teaching Award in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Evans believes that mentorship and increased opportunities in areas such as technical and vocational education are key factors to achieve student success.

"I would like to see each young person in Jamaica become a world-class citizen."

Junior Achievement Jamaica (JAJ) is a non-profit, non-government organisation, partnering with the Ministry of Education, the United States Agency for International Development, public organisations, and the private sector to deliver practical programmes aimed at preparing students, ages 5-24, for the global economy. JAJ will honour 14 teachers as part of its annual Champions for Youth Awards banquet on May 29. For more information, please contact JAJ via phone: 632-3572, or email info@jajamaica.org.