Junior Achievement Jamaica Thanks Teachers Pt III

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.

• Heather Spence - A good teacher never stops learning

Westmoreland

Heather Spence's passion for national development propelled her into the field of teaching and, after 15 years of educating young minds, she is still looking for innovative means to ensure Jamaica's youth continue to achieve excellence. Her zeal to ensure that her students excel is grounded in her vision to make Jamaica a place to live, raise families, and do business.

"I have used several innovative methods in my classroom to promote success, such as bringing to the teaching and learning process real-life experiences that the students can relate to. For example, in teaching the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) Accounting unit, I would take financial statements from The Gleaner to class and have discussions on the particular company with regards to (its) overall performance," she explained.

Spence believes that a good teacher never stops learning and was pleased by the increased knowledge she gained as she took on the task of leading the students at Manning's School in the Financial Literacy Programme, a joint programme between Junior Achievement Jamaica and the Financial Services Commission (FSC). She is confident that the programme will assist students as they take on other roles in their families and places of work.

"Those students who did not have a savings account now have one. The programme has taught them wise financial planning." she noted.

Spence remarked that one of the most rewarding experiences is to see her students leave high school and move on to becoming valuable citizens in the development of Jamaica's economy.

"In 2010, one of my sixth-form students was awarded the ISSA scholarship to the University of the West Indies to pursue a Bachelor's degree in accounting. She has now graduated and is making her mark in the field of accounting."

• Ann Marie Williams - Committed to teaching important values

Clarendon

Ann Marie Williams gives teachers high commendations as she believes they have honed her into the remarkable individual she has become. Her belief in the important role that teachers play in moulding young people personally and professionally propelled her to enter the teaching profession.

After 19 years, Williams remains committed to teaching students important values, while preparing them to become better business managers and foster their critical-thinking skills. For her, the task never gets old, and she is always developing strategies to make an impact on the lives of her students at Glenmuir High, where she has been teaching law, principles of business, principles of accounts, and business basics since 2005.

"I have offered my
time and energy to teach students outside of their regular school hours,
and I have always made myself available for them even if it does not
relate to schoolwork."

When Alphie Mullings-Aiken, president of
Junior Achievement Jamaica, shared the success of Junior Achievement
alumni with Williams, she wasted no time in ensuring that her students
benefitted from the programme.

"Junior Achievement has
(taught my students) better researching skills and know how to become
financially wise and literate in order to survive in this globalised
economy," she explained.

For the past three years,
Williams has been coaching students at Glenmuir as they prepare essays
to submit in the annual FSC financial literacy essay competition. This
year, three students at the school copped the first, second and third
place. In 2013, her students placed first and second, while in 2012, one
of her students was placed third.

Williams said her
commitment to helping youth is rooted in her passion for them to become
well-rounded individuals who will make a positive contribution to the
growth and development of
Jamaica.

• Natalie Garwood - Consumer of
  educational
  products

Manchester

Natalie
Garwood believes the only way out of poverty is to "consume educational
products". She credits this outlook on life to the guidance of one of
her teachers, Ms Brooks, while attending Bishop Gibson High School for
Girls in Manchester. Now a teacher at May Day High, Garwood is
motivating her students to strive for success in every aspect of their
lives.

"I have nurtured and uplifted my students and I
seek immediate solutions for students who confide their challenging
situations to me," Garwood commented.

Garwood, who
teaches information technology and principles of accounts, saw the
Junior Achievement Company of Entrepreneurs (JACE) programme as an
avenue to add value to some of the core business content to which they
are exposed in the classroom.

Each year, the student
participants of the JACE programme are asked to complete a corporate
social-responsibility project. Garwood and her students decided to spend
time with the boys and girls at the Hanbury Children's Home in
Spaldings. She said that as a result of spending time with the children
at the home, she now has a greater appreciation for some of the things
many people, including herself, take for granted.

'I
cried when I heard the children thanking us for combing their hair,
hugging and playing with them," she expressed.

Having
spent more than 10 years in the classroom, Garwood is keen on what it
takes to foster the holistic development of Jamaica's
youth.

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.