Dianne Clarke, principal of Victory Academy. - Photo by Nadisha Hunter

Dianne Clarke, principal of Victory Academy, a private secondary institution on Long Lane in Stony Hill, St Andrew, is on a two-pronged mission: Saving hearts and saving minds.

Clarke, who has spent two decades at the institution moulding lives, believes that education is more than just churning out information and racking up academic achievements.

"It has been an interesting experience but very challenging to inculcate biblical principles at a time when our nation doesn't seem to want that," she said in an interview last week.

"I don't believe that it is only about passing your Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams, it's more about sowing integrity in them."

She said she was inspired by the numerous success stories at the school, which caters to a wide range of children, including gifted individuals, those with special education needs, and students who have behavioural problems.

"The first law of God is love and that's the strength of our school, so that's pretty much what we do and we have seen a miraculous turnaround in both academics and conduct."

She added: "My heart is (for) young people, my passion is young people, and I believe that if you can get them right, you secure your future."

Her drive to help youths doesn't end there. Three years ago, Clarke extended the school programme to facilitate underprivileged children from inner-city communities.

"When I saw how wonderful the programme was working in getting the children focused, I thought about reaching out for the less fortunate so that they could be part of the change too," she said.

Seed of faith

Clarke said she went all out to impart moral principles as well as a sound education to the eight inner-city youths in the scholar-ship programme so far.

With their desire to learn, and her belief in them, Clarke said she also instils in them ambitions for national leadership.

"If I can impact them to impact their little family to impact their friend, then maybe we can impact a community," she added.

Clarke serves as the president and chairperson of the Inde-pendent Schools' Association, is founder of the Caribbean Christian Schools Association and hosts several conferences for Caribbean Christian educators.

Clarke disclosed that teaching wasn't her first love but she took up the mantle because she was called by God.

"When the Lord called me to education, it came out of my calling to the Lord about the nation's children and through my obedience to Him, I went in the education system to be a fisher of men," said Clarke, alluding to Jesus' recruit-ment of Peter as a disciple.

Career change

She left her job as an office administrator and took the position at Victory even though she wasn't paid much due to a shortage of funds at the institution.

Clarke, a Christian for 27 years, is a strong family woman and puts a lot of time into caring for her own four children.

"I relied heavily on instructions from the Lord to care for my children, who are professionals still living by Christian principles."

The private institution was started in 1987 as Covenant Academy but later changed its name to Victory in 2007. It currently has more than 50 students on roll.

nadisha.hunter@gleanerjm.com