By Avia Ustanny, Outlook Writer
Gloria Brissett with daughter, Margaret Bolt, principal of St. Peter Claver School.
GLORIA BRISSETT has a warm and disarming smile as she admits that she remembers nothing these days unless she writes it down.
But, this is not altogether the case we find, as we discover that the 80-year-old woman is flooded by memories of her mother about whom, apparently she could write a book.
"My mind is on her. It is as if she is with me. Her thoughts fill me," Mrs. Brissett says.
Gloria Brissett is well known for her roles as principal and teacher in Kingston. She is musing about her mother, Margaret Nelson of Armadale in St. Ann, a farmer, who passed on at the grand age of 102.
Margaret Nelson was a poor woman, but had no difficulty keeping her three children one boy and two girls -- on the straight and narrow path. And she made a success of it, her daughter says.
Mrs. Nelson raised two teachers, Lurline and Gloria. Their brother, Aubrey Nelson, was in the Royal Air Force.
Her children had food and a mother with a strong back bone. "Mother could make a dinner out of the simplest things."
And, although they could not swap food for education, they were, none of them, missing from school one day.
Gloria Brissett is like her mother... at least so her daughter, Mrs. Margaret Bolt principal of St. Peter Claver Primary School, says.
Mrs. Brissett gave birth to Margaret, Clive, Charles, Sharon and one other son, who is deceased.
Three of the lot are teachers.
Margaret says, "She was like a mother and father, not only to us, but to many other children. She taught us to 'make life'... not to let anything knock us down and stay down. She also taught us to pray."
"My mother was a praying woman," Gloria Brissett herself says and we note the connection that remains across the generations.
"She (Mrs. Nelson) prayed about everything. Momma I need a book,' I would say. Her answer would be 'Come child let us pray and wherever we were, in the field or beside the goat, we would kneel and pray."
Mrs. Nelson, the staunch Methodist, sent her daughter to St. Joseph's Teachers College, launching her on a career that, perhaps, might be envied by generations of teachers to come.
"My mother got congratulations from the Queen and the Pope gave her his Apostolic blessing," Gloria recalls of the centenarian who was also one of the longest serving members of her church in her time.
Gloria Brissett is yet to have an audience with the Queen, but her students and the parents associated with St. Peters and Paul and St. Anne's believe that she is some kind of royalty.
When, with relief (after all, she was way past retirement age) she resigned from her post at St. Peters and Paul at the age of 72, there was, reportedly, enough tears, to fill a small pool.
Fifty-seven years before this, her first post was at Almond Hill at Above Rocks where her students, she admits, simply adored her and she them.
"I played with them and loved them," Gloria Brissett says.
"They thought Miss Nelson was the greatest," she adds with a laugh.
This perception of her as something special was to follow her throughout her career and not without reason. Gloria Brissett was born with charisma and talent as a teacher.
Her 'people' skills, plus her Christian beliefs, not doubt contributed to her runaway classroom success.
In her years at St. Peters and Paul in the 1980s, the preparatory school grew by leaps and bounds, with new buildings constantly under construction to accommodate the growth.
The St. Peter's experience was the result of the 'seed' years at St. Anne's. In the 1970s Gloria Brissett worked with the sisters of St. Anne's in their inner-city school, first in the primary and then the secondary school.
The nuns, she said, taught her a lot about tutoring and administration. "If I am anything as a teacher, I owe it to them," she says.
The years at St. Anne's were learning years, indeed her 30 best years as a teacher, but they were also days of great darkness, the teacher states.
"I would not even say that those where the best of times and the worst of times."
In the late 70s the West Kingston community in which St. Anne's was located became a battle ground for political factions and school was a refuge for students who found their classroom safer than their homes.
Gloria Brissett was teacher and shepherd and would often stand on Perry Street with her hands spread wide until all students had fled into the church across the road for refuge.
With remembered grief she says, Oh, I went to funerals and funerals for our young."
The 70s, too, was the time when she lost her husband, Winsor Brissett, a policeman who died of natural causes early in his life.
There she was, struggling to teach, struggling to raise a family, and looking after her mother as well.
The St. Peters' posting, which she accepted in the early 80s, was a relief.
At this school she maintained a standard that was as high as and then higher than many government schools. Students excelled in all areas - academics, sports and culture. With increased income, many poorer students were allowed to attend the school.
After 15 and a half years, Teacher Brissett decided to retire, resisting all pleas to change her mind.
"Some people wept," she admits.
The celebration of over 50 years in the classroom, put on by the Roman Catholic Church, was attended by members of education circles and others from church and state. She was also the first individual in Kingston to receive the Governor-General's achievement award.
"It was time to leave the classroom," she now reflects. "I was well and as fit as a fiddle."
Gloria Brissett takes pride in being able to remain actively involved. She is a grief counsellor, a motivational speaker and remains a ardent church worker. For her work she has been given the Pro-eclesia award by Arch bishop Samuel Carter.
Her hobbies include writing poems and plays. Her favourite activity is fellowship.
"I just like to be with people," she smiles. "I always have people around me, to console, to support."
This is what her children appreciate about her. Margaret Bolt says, "For me, most of all, she is available. She is never too sad, never too tired for us.
"People say that there are no role models now. My mother is my role model. If I can become like her, that will be the greatest compliment," the mother of three boys states.
The torch passes on.
