Avia Ustanny, Outlook Writer
Carol Blanchard, principal of St. Cecelia Preparatory school believes that the young can be excellent leaders too. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
On Surbiton Road in Half-Way Tree, St. Cecelia Preparatory School occupies a quaint, older type dwelling which stands out among the modern apartment buildings in the St. Andrew community.
The prep school is 50 years old, its age contrasting with the woman at its helm, who is youthful and certainly just one generation removed from her young charges. At first, the idea of a young person filling the shoes of principal had to be sold to parents of students at the institution, principal Carol Blanchard admits.
This woman, a former teachers’ supervisor and guidance counsellor at Sts. Peter and Paul Preparatory School in St. Andrew, says she had a good background in managing human resources and project implementation.
New phenomenon
But, for the parents, “It was a new phenomenon seeing a young person.
“ They had to be warmed up to the idea that it was not age, but a vision which was shared from the very outset,” the principal notes.
In her opinion, many young leaders in her position fail because they “don’t get a chance to do a good situational analysis.”
Carol Blanchard visited St. Cecelia on many occasions before moving into her new office, and so was well prepared.
Her career in education began when she arrived at Mico College at age 16 - setting the pace for an emergence in the classroom at an extraordinarily young age.
Her determination to teach, she states, was cemented by her first experience in the classroom in an inner-city school. At Spanish Town Comprehensive High School, she says, "I was revered. I saw where I could make a difference with respect to children and it came home to me that if I could help them, then my life would not be in vain."
Blanchard has also been influenced by the example of her parents - retired soldier Clarence Blanchard and businesswoman Myrtle Blanchard - who ran an after-school care centre of sorts in their home in Hughenden, St. Andrew, for the children of their neighbours.
VALUES instilled
"They (parents) came for their children sometimes in the wee hours of the night or morning, satisfied that they would be fed, homework done and the proper values instilled," Carol Blanchard recalls.
All of this was done by her parents at no cost to parents for many years. Carol, one of 12 children for her parents, emerged from the cocoon of home determined to develop careers in the field of education, law and/ or politics. It was her father's fear of criminal law and politics, she said, which determined her choice of teaching. Spanish Town Comprehensive was followed by Oberlin High School and then Sts. Peter and Paul.
St. Cecelia Preparatory School, which she joined in 2002, represents the pinnacle of her achievements. The school has a steady record in Spelling Bee performance and possesses a reputation for turning out students who are aware of their civic duties and political environment.
Blanchard notes, "St. Cecelia is a quiet achiever, but certainly we have made our mark in impacting lives.
"Our history represents 50 years of trying to ensure that we affect the society in a positive way."
Past students of the school include financiers Andrew Cocking and Peter Bunting, and several others who have represented Jamaica in table tennis.
The school will continue to thrive, she believes. In the private school, she states: "There is a higher level of accountability. Parents are our watchdogs. They know if the mandate is not being fulfilled.
"In the government-run school, the owners of the school are not readily accessible and so parents do not feel that they have a voice in effecting change. In the private institution, accountability is greater.
"In the private institutions there might be a problem of funding as a fraction of the population might not be able to pay all fees. However (here at St. Cecelia), we try as much as possible to take care of all our students. We work out payments plans so that all, at the end of the day, will be comfortable."
Carol Blanchard notes that her selection of guidance and counselling "might have been divine intervention."
Guidance, counselling programme
" At Mico," she says, "I had my eyes set on social studies and English. Guidance and counselling, however, was undersubscribed and the then head, Principal (Renford) Shirley, said that I should join the guidance and counselling programme."
In counselling parents, she notes, the most apparent problem is denial. Parents sometimes go months into the school year before they accept the fact that they need to seek the help available from cost-sharing.
Parents, she said, are also concerned about confidentiality and guidance counsellors will have to satisfy them that their business will not be spread in the school community.
At St. Cecelia, she asserts that staff maintains a family-oriented atmosphere in which everyone knows each other's name, and an effort is made to care for all.
"I love people and I love children," Carol Blanchard declares.
