Ivy Thomas
- Contributed By Avia Ustanny,
Freelance Writer
BORN IN 1939, Ivy Thomas was named after long-time teacher Ivy Francis in the district of Watts, St. Ann. As a young girl, watching Teacher Francis conduct her classes and her life, proved to be instructive: "I admired her way of teaching and her attitude to children. I decided that I wanted to be like her."
At sixty-one years old Ivy Thomas is a grade two teacher at Holy Childhood Preparatory. The Ivy Francis-like 'can-do' attitude to life and its challenges has remained steadfast with her through time. She believes that for every difficulty there is a solution. For every child in her classroom there is a suitable method of learning.
"A child for me can never be too slow. Once they are normal and healthy they can learn. I always succeed in getting them to learn," she said in a recent interview.
But how did she find herself into the noble profession? Ivy attended Watts elementary and passed the Jamaica Local examination at a very early age. She became a pupil teacher there in 1957, and since then has been teaching, except for two years spent attending Shortwood Teachers' College. In St. Ann, she taught at Lime Tree Garden, Gibraltar and Keith, and after college, she went to August Town, Allman Town, Maverly, and then Dunrobin Primary where she spent approximately 30 years.
For the September-born woman, the start of every new school year is a rebirth, a new opportunity to shape the minds and, by extension, the lives of her students.
"I enjoy working with the littler ones always. I have had a lot of good experiences especially with the poorer children," she said. "One day at Dunrobin I saw one little girl huddled in the corner. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "Miss ah hungry." She was trembling. She said that she had received $5 but that she wanted it for her bus fare. I gave her my lunch and she was so hungry that she could not even say thanks."
Ivy Thomas got involved in providing for more students like this one. She was soon running the lunch programme of the primary school, which provided annually 25 to 30 students with hot meals and drinks.
Teaching, she said, provided additional skills in parenting which she needed. "Having to deal with them gave me a good opportunity to learn to tolerate my own children."
Her brood includes 2 girls, two boys, and five other children who she and husband Audley Thomas took into her home. Among the nine, there are now one civil engineer, a paediatrician, a chartered accountant, a businessman, a teacher, a nurse, a dietician and one young woman who is still attending University.
She inculcated in them all, as she still tries with her students every day, the value of learning a message which seems to be missing many in these times.
None was allowed to turn their backs on full training for a career, or to settle for collecting minimum wage in favour of fulfilling their potential.
In today's classroom, the grade two students at Holy Childhood Prep. are getting the full dose of her philosophies, undiluted.
"I tell the parents of the students any weakness I find and deal with them with their co-operation. Some children learn with a hug. Some you have to pressure a little harder some with rewards and some with threats. Each child differs and we try to meet their needs.
"I do not hide weaknesses. If they are stubborn, unwilling to work independently, all these things have to be addressed."
Mrs. Townsend said, " I plan to retire when I feel I am not in a position to help as effectively as I should."
In a message younger teachers, she said: "Be honest in doing your work. I do believe that it is not only when a man grabs our bag that he is a thief. One is also a thief when he wastes his time on the job. You are equally guilty."
Retirement is not anticipated as a time of escape. "I really do enjoy teaching and I will miss the classroom when I have to go," Teacher Thomas concluded.
