Chereece Henry-Stennett - Elgin Taylor

There are various reasons given by individuals for why they ended up in the teaching profession.

For Chereece Henry-Stennett of Angels Primary School in Spanish Town, St Catherine, the choice was clear, with one stipulation.

"I knew that I would join the teaching profession from when I was working as a stenotypist at Dinthill Technical High School. However, there was only one drawback: I wanted to travel before going to college and getting trained," she informed The Star.

As time progressed, her perspective changed somewhat, however, and after sending out number of applications to educational institutions, Henry-Stennett settled on Moneague College, St Ann. She graduated from this institution in 2002 with a teacher's diploma in primary education.

Henry-Stennett's first teaching job was at Time and Patience Primary School in St Catherine. She also taught at Harewood All-Age and Orangefield Primary before becoming a staff member at Angels Primary on September 1, 2004.

In later years, she studied successfully for a bachelor's degree in early childhood education at Shortwood Teachers' College in St Andrew.

The young educator is cognisant of the fact that apart from the academic areas, she has to be a mother, a nurse, a friend, a counsellor a policewoman, and a janitor in the lives of her students.

She shared that she loves children and that her joy as a practitioner is seeing smiles whenever they complete a task successfully. She gives them a lot of positive reinforcement, including praise in front of the class, hugs, pencils, and stickers.