Educational Visits

On my last day in Jamaica, Mrs. Denis (a Senior Education Officer for the Ministry of Education Region 6) took me on a tour of Ministry 6’s office, Spanish Town High School and an elementary school.   I met some amazing people at the ministry office, including one of the accountants in charge of checking the school budgets. 

The best part of the Ministry of Education Region 6 was Mrs. Denis!  She is an amazing woman!  She is respected and admired by everyone who works with her. I witnessed her putting out fires, handling conflicts, organizing events, and directing a conference.  She is extremely thoughtful!  When she knew my friend and I were going to switch vehicles with her, she made sure we had cold drinks and snacks.  She always made sure she had dressy shoes in her car and was always dressed very professional.  Her answers to my questions were educated and very innovative.  She made the most yummy chicken I have every had.  I feel so blessed to have met her and to be able to learn from her.  

One of my educational heroes!  Mrs. Denis and I at Port Royal.

The accounting department at Region 6 

Mrs. Denis' office

 Mrs. Denis took me to one of the regions best elementary schools.  The elementary was closed because it was summer, but a custodian let us in and a teacher was there and she answered my questions.  The school has a beautiful campus that is very inviting.  The teacher knew lots of resources and strategies.  She was the reading specialist who worked with students in a pull out program (sort of like our resource at the elementary level).  She has seen a lot of improvement with students’ reading. She also helps parents to know what they can do to help the students. She works very close with the teachers and administration. When she is unable to assist a student, that student is sent to a special education school.  She had a brightly painted yellow classroom (it was being painted while we were there) with only one large chalkboard. But, she has obviously spent hours making manipulative to help her students. The school had very good test scores and was a school of choice.  I was very impressed with it.

After the ministry, Mrs. Denis arranged for me to spend some time with the Dean of Discipline at Spanish Town High School.  It was registration day and it was caotic to say the least.  The DofD was bombarded with parents asking her questions.  She explained to a couple of parents that their child would not be able to return to school until he/she had completed a counseling session with the parents because they had received too many discipline marks.  The dean told me she had been a teacher for a few years and then decided she wanted to get to the bottom of things in regards to discipline. When a student gets sent to her (usually from a teacher), she tries to find out why the student is acting out.  She even makes home visits to see what is going on at home.  There was a large gang problem at Spanish HS when she first became the dean. She worked with local police, local gang leaders, and surrounding high schools to get rid of the problem. She said she was able to break up the students who were the gang leaders by taking some other students from the surrounding high schools as a swap program.  Her assignments are not totally defined so she has a huge responsibility to parents, student, and teachers.  She is suppose to meet with the principal often but usually is not included in most administrative meetings.  I was extremely impressed with the dean and the work she is doing to make the school better.  She said they are still working to improve their low-test scores and one of her biggest concerns is how loud and busy the high school is because it is right in the center of the city.  While I was there I had to ask her to repeat her comments a couple of times because large trucks were driving by and I couldn’t hear above the traffic.  

Education in Jamaica may be behind the US as far as technology and resources , but there are amazing educators like Mrs. Denis, the dean at Spanish Town HS, and the reading specialist at the elementary who make education valuable.  In all of my travels this summer, I have learned that the teacher makes the greatest difference.  Not technology, not facilities, and not the culture.  Teachers are a students greatest resource for knowledge and motivation.