Teacher Norlene for me has always been a teacher par excellence. Her unassuming nature may belie her unmatched interest in her student and her unbridled passion for excellence however they are two qualities that define her teaching. Teacher Norlene was one of the few teachers throughout my educational history who took time out to work with me and took an extra interest in me. I still remember her approaching my parents and identifying my weaknesses and volunteering to assist me with them. She would always go beyond the call of duty and this was 20 years ago. It is shocking to say the least, that 20 years after that she was still holding Easter classes with the Grade 6 class to get them ready for the 2010 Test of Standards. It didn’t matter that she was now the head teacher of the third largest primary school on the island. She was still the gracious, Teacher Norlene ready to serve her students and prepare them the best she could.

Teacher Norlene’s ascent to be Principal of the St Thomas’ School didn’t come without its own set of unique challenges. For one, she had to pick up where the indomitable Ms. Earlene Maynard left off. Ms. Maynard by all reports didn’t merely leave large shoes to fill; it was almost as if she left large clothes as well. Additionally there were a chorus of Sanballats and Tobiahs just like in the days of Nehemiah who doomed her to failure by saying that she was not qualified enough to lead. Needless to say, I was more than a little disgusted by anyone saying anything negative about my Teacher Norlene. However Teacher Norlene handled her new role with aplomb, continuing to rally the staff and even helping to teach and tutor the Grade Six Class. The fact that the small matter of 21 students from the Grade 6 class has now gone to 1A1 which shatters every record for the school in her first year further ossifies her indefatigable determination to excel. St Thomas continued with all the impressive programs the school would usually have and again showing its worth at the Inter-Primary School meet. Teacher Norlene is yet young and her legacy cannot be summed up in one year but her star is yet rising and if her history is anything to go by, we expect to see it raise even higher and shine even brighter.

Teacher Varina is a star that has shone brightly for almost three decades as head teacher of the Maude Crosse Preparatory School. She too had to follow after the founder of the school in Maude Crosse but that didn’t seem to deter her. She would have overseen the development of the school in its embryonic stages to a school which is now over-subscribed with applications despite the fees year after year. I remember when I was at the school that I became captain of the first ever school’s cricket and football team in 1993. Many people thought that was the first and last time the Prep school would enter but the school has been entering every year since then, albeit with varying levels of success. It was also under Teacher Varina that the school for the first time entered the Inter-Primary School Athletic meet, even winning the Zone B Division for three consecutive years.

It is a tribute to her astute leadership that she as a black Nevisian woman was able to manage a school which some people referred to as “de white people dem school”. She didn’t merely kowtow to the whites nor did she run them away but all views from both white and black were seen as important and equal and were brought onboard for the future development of the school. Her leadership is prodigious testimony to the fact that blacks and whites can work together in harmony in Queen City. People from every parish in Nevis want their child in “Prep School” as it is affectionately called and this is largely attributable to the venerable Teacher Varina. She didn’t merely manage the school well but the school stands as a model of academic brilliance, almost always the school that produces the highest percentage of students going to 1 A1. It has almost become commonplace for 100% of the students to either go to 1A1 or 1A1 and 1A2 only. The fact that she is leaving now leaves a lacunae that will not easily be filled; unless of course someone of the pedigree of Teacher Norlene applies for the job.

These teachers are the “one of a kind” sort of gems that every child who would have learned under them should feel extra blessed about. Although it is a truism that our society as a whole hates to praise people unless and until they are dead, I have decided to change that trend to salute two of Nevis finest people. While one star drifts off into retirement having shone brightly with distinction in the south-west for almost three decades, another star in the west beckons us to look on as she shines in all her splendour having also served under the star in the south west. For the star who would have shone in the South West, her legacy is as propitious and poignant as any in the history of our educational system. I have no news of her future plans but I expect that she would use some time to rest, reflect, recline and rejoice for the mercies that God has afforded her over these years. For the star that is rising steadily in the west, I expect only the greatest and grandest of things. I expect that star to shine on so that it blinds all the Sanballats and Tobiahs around and converts them like Paul on the way to Damascus. They have served their students, their schools and their country with pride. My prayer now is that God’s richest blessing be theirs as one builds her legacy and another enjoys theirs.