Rosemarie Evangeline Vernon

There are important lessons to be learnt from the work of many individuals over the years who have been presidents of that august body called the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA). Among these is Rosemarie Evangeline Vernon, one of the few persons who have held that position while being a classroom teacher.

Some may argue, and perhaps with good reason, that this position is heavily skewed towards persons who are males and those who occupy the position of principals. However, through hard work and tenacity, Vernon was able to achieve this coveted milestone.

She was JTA president for the 1991-1992 academic year while being employed at the Alpha Primary School in Kingston. In fact, the records show that prior to retirement, she served the institution for 34 years, with 27 of them as a classroom teacher. She was appointed principal in 1997.

Vernon is seen as a hard worker and someone who took on several roles simultaneously. This included serving on a UNESCO Education Committee, the Broadcast Commission, and the Corruption Prevention Commission.

She has on occasion been described as humble, generous, witty, and passionate. She is a strong believer in the "team approach" to governance and saw to it that stakeholders like the academic, administrative, and ancillary staff, as well as private entities, worked at providing top-quality education for the nation's children.

Her tenure as JTA president who was aptly captured in an article by the late Professor Carl Stone, who named her as one of the persons who had a positive impact on the nation in 1991. She was especially lauded for the calm and professional manner with which she handled the wage negotiations with the government.

Vernon is reported as saying that she had an "exciting" childhood which saw her exposed to the "two Jamaicas". At times, she would stay at her mother's abode and other times at her father's. She had to share her mother's lowly accommodations, while at her father's, she even had a servant to wait on her.

This upbringing, together with her strong Christian convictions, enabled her to communicate easily with individuals from different social strata and also provided the impetus for her to motivate others to strive to be their best.

She was educated at the Shortwood Teachers' College and the University of the West Indies, earning a bachelor of arts and master of science degree, respectively.

She believes in helping the less fortunate and refused to have her retirement function held at a hotel, requesting instead that the money saved go to fund a scholarship for needy students.

The effervescent and talented educator has received several awards over the years, including the Order of Distinction (OD) from the Jamaican government for sterling contribution to education.