Teacher as a commencement speaker.
The purpose of the commencement speaker should be to inspire the members of the graduating class, not to amuse or to instruct them, and certainly not to bore them. As a teacher, I was excited yet intimidated to craft and deliver a message that resonated for 5 years old, 25 years old, and 55years old. The theme for the event was: “Dear to Dream: Dreams do come true.”
I reminded the parents and guardians that we are responsible for helping our children to make their dreams come true. At five our task now is to ensure they are equipped to learn to think and make ideas. So, there are three things we can do to help make their ideas for themselves real. We can employ COMMUNITY, CARE, and COURAGE to help our children achieve their goals.
1. Care enough to know the persons educating your children. Learn about their class teacher and if she allows you to have a relationship with her respect her boundaries.
2. Steep your children in positive and strategic communities that would help them make their dreams come true.
3. Have the courage to celebrate what is different about your child. Also, if they learn differently have the courage to be ok with it. And if you need help take courage and ask the community for the help they have to offer.
It was an incredible experience and I look forward to serving our children in the community more. THANK YOU Old Road Pre-School.
Speaking in the Community
Public speaking is one of the many skills a teacher learns to enhance in the classroom. After she has mastered it she then creates opportunities to share information and like skills via speech. Hence, I had the distinct privilege to speak to the toastmasters at their 2022 President Installation Blue Carpet Banquet.
I used the opportunity to shine a light on how resilience can be and should be taught in the community. A working knowledge of resilience is vital because it is our ability to bounce back from difficulties that informs the impact we are capable of having. We all encounter suffering because adversity does not discriminate. However, we are able to employ the strategy that every negative experience contains in it the seed of a turnaround. Seek the benefits inside of every negative situation it is right there waiting to be identified and used to make you and the individual and the community better.
Teaching Teachers to CARE
I started creating content about my experience as an educator and sharing it. It is mainly of my lived experience as a teacher. What I am saying is:
- Teachers are invaluable.
- Teachers work hard.
- Teachers are employees like other workers, not saints.
- Teachers need partnerships and resources to get the job done.
As I shared my content with the teachers I am connected with they started sharing with teachers outside our connection. Then I began getting invitations to speak to students, teachers, and community organizations. The academic year of 2022-2023 has been a good one to teach teachers to care for the community as a community.
Give what You Can
This is an initiative I started with a small group of persons in my church at Holy Trinity after realizing a need to connect with the communities of the church through support. The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu OMSG CH GCStJ Archbishop of Cape Town Primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission posits we are the hands of God to love and feed His children. Hence, the ministry of care is vital to who I am as a person and giving food even in small amounts helps restore hope and feed families. So, the mission has expanded beyond the church and now I work directly with communities and families.
Literacy Through The Art
Kofi Annan, Past United Nation Secretary General states, “Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.” As a child of illiterate parents, learning to read with the assistance of classroom teachers enriched my potential as a child. I could navigate a world once closed and more importantly interpret for my family. Today I read something everyday because I do not take the act of reading or the skill of reading for granted. Also, after being a trained teacher with a number of postgraduate diplomas I studied literacy instruction at the University of the West Indies Open Campus to pursue studies in Literacy instruction. With this I have engaged in teaching literacy through the arts especially for learning support students in school and the community.
Working With Special Olympic Athletes
Special Olympics St.Kitts is a sports organization and more. It is a global movement helping to transform the lives of children and adults with intellectual disabilities and build communities of unity and inclusion all over the world. There is a quote we say “ Let me win, but if I can not win let me be brave in my attempt. Working with the special olympic athletes on their leadership development program is an honor. In whatever capacity I am invited I do my best to help and the athletes help my spirit be brave.