Governor Duncan Taylor has announced an additional group of Certificate and Badge of Honour recipients for Heroes Day.
The theme for Heroes Day this year is education, and those being honoured are a group of teachers who have devoted many years to educating the youth of the Cayman Islands.
“They have ceaselessly given of their time, skill and knowledge, which have touched many young lives in the community and I am delighted that their contribution to the education of our youth has been acknowledged by this honour,” Mr. Taylor said.
Today, the following seven people receive the Cayman Islands Certificate and Badge of Honour for services to education:
Sally Ann Balderamos
Sally Ann “Sally” Balderamos has, for over 40 years, contributed to the educational development of the Cayman Islands and the lives of her students. “My efforts always focused on equipping students for their future careers,” she says.
As a high school student in Ohio, Sally would be asked to take over the classroom lessons whenever the teacher stepped outside. This, together with her love for working with children and the encouragement of her mentor Sister Kathleen – a Catholic nun — convinced her to pursue a career in education.
After teaching in the USA for ten years, Sally was sent to Belize as part of a Catholic Church missionary programme, where she met her future husband Frank. The couple has two, now adult, children, Frank Jr. and Katie.
They moved to Cayman in 1969, and she spent the next 40 years working in the government school system. In 2002, she retired as deputy principal of John Gray High School but returned on a four year contract as a supply teacher. In 2008 she became an external exam supervisor, and for the past three years she’s been a substitute teacher at Triple C School.
Ms Balderamos is a member of the St. Ignatius Catholic Church. While she was teaching, she enjoyed working with the Cayman Drama Society and other theatre groups, acting and singing in many productions.
In the time before women were invited to become members, she supported her husband’s involvement with Lions Club of Grand Cayman and Rotary Club of Grand Cayman Central, hosting parties for the elderly and beach day for special needs persons, as well as fundraising.
With too many golden teaching moments to name, she said, “Seeing my past students hold very rewarding careers today has always been my greatest reward.”
Tammy Mona-Lisa Banks-DaCosta
After graduating from the then Cayman Brac High School in 1981, Tammy Mona-Lisa Banks-DaCosta thought her future was in banking. She eagerly applied herself to her “chosen career”, but soon had to concede that banking was not her forte.
An avid Sunday school teacher, she always enjoyed working with children, so in 1985, she took a leap of faith and signed up as a teacher’s aide at Creek Primary School. She completed her formal teaching qualification in December 1990 and became a full-time teacher at the Spot Bay Primary School in January 1991. During her teacher’s training, she did her summer internships at Brac schools.
Finally finding her “career for life”, Ms Banks-DaCosta applied her signature determination to her teaching and quickly rose through the ranks. In 1998, she became the Special Needs Teacher for Cayman Brac primary schools, and, coming full circle, in 2002, she became principal of the school where it all started — Creek Primary.
She held this post for six years before being promoted to Learning Community Leader for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. She still holds this position, which was renamed Senior School Improvement Officer in September 2011.
From the moment she stepped into the classroom Ms Banks-DaCosta realized that teaching was her “calling”. This is of no surprise since she comes from a family of educators. Her grandfather, Guy A. Banks, was one of the first teachers on Little Cayman, having served from 1941-1959, while her grandmother served as a pupil teacher at Cotton Tree Bay School in the late 1920s.
“They and others serve as a constant inspiration. They have taught me that teaching comes from the heart and that we should always focus on the whole child, not just his or her academic achievements,” she says.
Ever humble, Ms Banks-DaCosta takes no personal credit for receiving the Certificate and Badge of Honour for her contributions to education. Instead she extols the grace of God and the virtues of her team of educators: “I serve a mighty God and work with awesome people. There is an environment of respect and professionalism as we all work together as a team. And we always put the children at the centre of what we do!”
Gerald I. Harper
Gerald I. Harper is one of the busiest figures on the Cayman sports scene. Affectionately known to all as Coach Jerry, he and his time-keeping watch have become ubiquitous at major sports event on the island.
However, this year, Mr. Harper is recognised for his less well-known but equally profound contributions as an outstanding educator. Since leaving his home-town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1964, he has made his mark all over the Caribbean, teaching and coaching for almost half a century. “I went to the Bahamas for six months and ended up staying for ten years,” he remembers with a smile.
Mr. Harper moved to the Cayman Islands in 1975. “Upon my arrival in Grand Cayman the first question they asked was: Did they tell you the job is on Cayman Brac? And I said fine,” he recalls.
Remembering his first years on Cayman Brac with great fondness, Mr. Harper lists some of his more ‘famous’ students including Deputy Premier Julianna O’ Connor-Connolly, George Town Primary School Principal Marie Martin, artist Horacio Esteban and Paul and Peter Thompson.
After a few years, Mr. Harper moved to Grand Cayman. In 1987 he left the Islands to coach and teach in Haiti, the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, returning to the Cayman Islands permanently in 1996.
While his first love was always sports, Mr. Harper taught a variety of subjects, finding constant inspiration in his students’ accomplishments on and off the field.
“Education and sports have both served me well. Through the years, it has put me in contact with some major sports figures. But most of all, I have been very pleased with the accomplishments of my students and athletes, both academically and athletically, wherever I have been privileged to serve,” Mr. Harper notes.
Apart from teaching, Mr. Harper also founded the Phoenix Athletic Club and has served as vice–president of the Cayman Islands Athletic Association.
The indomitable and remarkable Coach Jerry is showing no signs of slowing down. He is still very involved with running, triathlon and Special Olympics. He has also been an avid sportswriter for many years.
Edgar Alan Jones
As an educator, Mr. Jones states that one of the most satisfying rewards is to meet ex-students and have them thank him for making a positive contribution to their lives.
During his 25 years at the Cayman Islands High School (later to become John Gray High School), Mr. Jones taught biology and spent many years involved in the pastoral care of students. He was Head of House, Head of Year for eight years, and Senior Master for 15 years. For his service to education, Edgar Alan Jones has been awarded the Cayman Islands Certificate and Badge of Honour.
Named ‘Edgar’ after a grandfather but known as ‘Alan’, Mr. Jones believes that he is best remembered at the high school for his role as Senior Master, which among other responsibilities gave him charge of boys’ pastoral care.
He was regarded as a strong disciplinarian. “My philosophy was that it was very difficult to achieve a successful education without discipline,” he said. His major goal was to assure that the school had a safe environment, conducive for students to learn and his colleagues to teach.
After graduating from Madeley College (Keele University), he taught science for five years in the U.K. Deciding to travel abroad, he taught on Abaco in the Bahamas for five years, and then moved to the Cayman Islands in 1975.
Retired for eleven years, Mr. Jones and his wife Barbara, who taught maths at JGHS for 23 years, now enjoy travelling and spending some time in the UK each year. While at home in Cayman he volunteers to help at sporting events — in particular, athletics, road races, swimming, and cycling.
He is flattered and honoured to know that his contribution to education in the Cayman Islands has been recognised, saying, “It’s nice to know that you helped to make a difference.”
Bernice Elizabeth Levy
A dedicated, loyal teacher of many students throughout the Cayman Islands, Bernice Levy says, “Teaching is not man-made. It is a gift you are born with.”
In 1959, at 17 she accepted the challenge to help shape and guide young people. At first her desire was to become a nurse, but that plan quickly changed. While awaiting her Jamaica local exam results, she was asked to fill-in as a pupil teacher at the West Bay School where Education Officer Mr. Clifton Hunter gave her six months to transform 28 slow learners. When she accomplished that task in three months, she knew teaching was her calling.
With inspiration and recommendation from Mr. Hunter, in 1962 she travelled to Shortwood Teachers College in Jamaica to pursue studies in education for three years.
Upon her return, she spent one year with the Infants Department at West End Primary School on Cayman Brac. Several years later, she became a full time teacher at John A. Cumber Primary School where she moved up to principal in 1976 and served in this capacity for 12 years.
Then the West Bay native spent the next two years as head of the Teachers’ Centre where she wrote and published the first hand-book for the centre.
Starting in 1990, “Miss Bernice”, as she is still referred to by past students and their parents, served as a Senior Tutor at the George Hicks High School for 13 years. There, she was a founder of the Red Cross Youth Group. She also served as a member of the National Curriculum Team responsible for developing the Social Studies programme from primary to high school levels.
Her parents instilled in her a strong faith and a desire to serve her community. She remains an active member of the Church of God Full Gospel Hall where she has served as a youth leader, Sunday school teacher and pianist.
Ms Levy enjoys visits to shut-ins and taking food for the elderly and has been a member of the Cancer Society for many years. Reinforcing Cayman’s culture in young people during Heritage Week has also been a focus.
A loving wife to attorney Neville, they are proud parents of three children and four grandchildren.
After 41 years of dedicated service in the government school system, Miss Bernice describes her career highlight as, “seeing my past students now serve me and recognizing how well they have excelled.” Even in retirement, Ms Levy still found time to assist students who were having difficulty in school, and she continues her voluntary services throughout the community.
Lorna P. Lumsden
Thirty years of being an educator in the Cayman Islands have neither dimmed the passion nor swerved the dedication of Mrs. Lorna P. Lumsden. She continues to believe that the joys of teaching are special and that every child harbours the potential for success. “You have to seriously love this profession,” she admits.
As every one of her students with regular or special education needs knows, Mrs. Lumsden has an abiding love for children and a conviction about what each one is capable of attaining. It is for these attributes that the Deputy Principal of Sir John A. Cumber Primary School has received the Cayman Islands Certificate and Badge of Honour for National Heroes Day 2012.
She loves going to work each day, but it is by dint of sheer devotion and hard work that this teacher has risen to her present position. Just a year after she obtained a Trained Teachers’ Certificate from Moneague Teachers’ College, Jamaica, she arrived in Cayman.
Since then, she served eight years as a classroom teacher at George Town Primary and 22 more at Sir John A. Cumber Primary as a Year Six teacher, a Learning and Behaviour Disorder Specialist and Special Education Needs Coordinator, and the last seven years as deputy principal.
Mrs. Lumsden has also proved her mettle as a Site Based Coordinator for Strategic Planning, as a member of the National Education Strategic Planning Committee, by developing and implementing a Special Education Needs programme, and by running the Academic Creative Enrichment programme, an accelerated agenda for Years Five and Six students.
She is particularly proud of her involvement in the National Children’s Festival of the Arts, of which she is a founding organising committee member, but even more so as the guiding force behind her students’ outstanding performances, resulting often in her school capturing the overall trophy for speech.
Believing that learning is a life-long experience, while on the job – and balancing demands as a wife and mother – Mrs. Lumsden obtained a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Miami. Moreover, her teachers have a strong ally for their self improvement plans. She regularly conducts or coordinates professional development workshops and other teacher training initiatives in her school and in the wider system.
Her work as a Brownie Guide Leader for 20 years earned her a long-service award, which goes alongside another – the Cayman Is lands Education Department Master Teachers’ award garnered in 2003.
By putting into practice all that she preaches, Mrs. Lumsden has exemplified to students and faculty alike that you earn respect by living by your words.
She gets so much satisfaction from her job that she did not expect the honour she has now received. “It was a complete surprise but a very pleasant one,” she comments, “I am humbled by it. I owe a debt of gratitude to the Government and the people of the Cayman Islands.”
Anita Wheaton
Anita F. Wheaton is the quintessential teacher. Known for her compassion and commitment to her students, she was born to teach.
“I love being in a classroom full of students. I enjoy building a relationship with them. That and the enormous pleasure of seeing them achieve success in examinations, especially when they achieve beyond their expectations, have been some of the most rewarding aspects of my career as a teacher,” she notes.
However ardent, she does admit to the challenges and frustrations of seeing students struggle, but above all she calls her teaching “a deeply satisfying experience”. It is this view which has sustained her passion through a career spanning more than half a century, starting at an all-girl convent school in Cheltenham, England.
Arriving in Grand Cayman in 1975 after her husband was transferred, she was quick to take up a part-time position as mathematics teacher at the then Cayman Islands High School. A year later she was appointed permanently, spending the next decade teaching her signature subject.
Health issues forced her to resign in 1988, but ever the educator, Mrs. Wheaton found her way back to the classroom two years later when she was offered a position at Cayman Prep (now Cayman Prep and High School). Here she remained for almost two decades, retiring in 2007.
But yet again the classroom called and she returned to teaching a third time as part of Cayman Prep and High School’s learning support unit. She retired again in 2010, but remains active as a substitute teacher.
Outside of the classroom, Mrs. Wheaton fed her other passion – acting and singing. As a key member of the early Cayman Drama Society, she recalls with great joy the production of South Pacific when forty actors and actresses performed the musical to a packed audience in the old, un-air-conditioned town hall. She is also an active member of the Catholic Church and has been Cantor for many years.
Mrs. Wheaton and husband David raised four children, Vicki, Gabrielle, Dominic and Michael. She also dotes on her two grandchildren, Isabella (6) and baby Arjan (4 months).
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