This Week We Feature Young Professional Tamika T. George
Young Professional Tamika T. George has been a school teacher for more than half her life. Photo: VINO
Ms George enjoys moulding the minds of the future. Photo: VINO
Ms George is a Class Two teacher at the ‘Home of the Striders’ Althea Scatliffe Primary School. Photo: VINO
By Reuben Stoby
Not everyone readily accepts their calling and our Young Professional for this week can attest to that but for her, acceptance was one of the best decisions she made for herself in life.
Not everyone readily accepts their calling and our Young Professional for this week can attest to that but for her, acceptance was one of the best decisions she made for herself in life.
This week we feature Class Two teacher at the ‘Home of the Striders’ Althea Scatliffe Primary School, Tamika T. George.
Ms George has been a teacher for more than half her life, some 19 years in fact as she entered into the teaching profession immediately after she came out of the then BVI High School way back in 1994.
She started out teaching at the Francis Lettsome Primary School, which was known as the Long Look Primary School when she attended there as a child. She then attended the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College and after two years took a transfer to Wheelock College in Boston, USA and is now a holder of a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education.
According to Ms George, she always knew she wanted to work with children but dreaded the idea of becoming a teacher simply because her mother was a teacher and she just did not want to do the same thing. “I just wanted to do something different but I am very thankful I followed in my mom's footstep,” Ms George said with a smile.
Our Young Professional related that she wanted to become a paediatrician but once she ended up in the teaching profession she gave up on that without a strand of regret. “This is my calling, this is where I belong. I definitely feel this is where I belong.”
Not surprisingly too, Ms George sees herself in the profession for a very long time as helping to mould the minds of the future in the best way she can gives her great pride and joy in one of the most oldest and noblest yet not tangibly rewarding professions. “If I ever have to go somewhere else it would have to be somewhere else with kids. I just love to work with the smaller kids.”
“It has been a great and rewarding experience but tough at times because you never get a set of kids who are on the same level. So I have my challenges but those challenges are what mould me to become better at what I do because I do love the challenge and when I am faced with it I often do the necessary research, especially on how to deal with that child that is experiencing difficulty in the class room.”
She also revealed that she especially enjoys when she teaches a lesson and can see the children applying what they have learned outside of the lesson. “I also love to see when the children are happy and having fun while learning.”
Ms George teaches Language Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics, General Science and Health Science. She said even after being a teacher for some 19 years the door is still open to academic studies “because education is always changing.”
And of course working at the envy of all schools, the ‘Mighty Mighty Scatliffe’ also brings self gratification to our Young Professional. “I love it. I love being here at Althea Scatliffe. I love teaching and yes it is the largest school and all but that does not deter me from being involved. I have a stamp here where I respect the children and they respect me...It is just a real awesome experience. I love the kids here; I love my co-workers and my superiors.”
Ms George encourages parents to have more open conversations with their children “where they can actually teach their parents” as this fosters a greater bond between them. She also encourages parents to be more involved in the schooling of their children. “I tell them the classroom is yours and I would love to see more parents coming in to the school. We are always accommodating.”
Our Young Professional would also like to see more young people getting into the teaching profession but caution that it is indeed a labour of love. “We the teachers already in the system have a responsibility to sell the profession to other young people but I would be frank about it that teaching is not an easy job and if you want to be the best at it you have to be prepared. So it is also up to us teachers to attract more persons in the profession but at the same time let them know what are the expectations and the challenges and if they are not willing then they should reconsider their career choice.”
Ms George also noted that there are many teachers at the Althea Scatliffe Primary School who are always willing to help the up and coming teachers. “Right now we have a set of young teachers from the college and part of our job is to help them.”
When asked about what advice she had for youth, Our Young Professional related what has worked for her and that included keeping a sense of humbleness and being “down-to-earth”. “Respect yourself and others. Those are some of the things that make you. It’s about self presentation also, so present yourself in the best way you can and just carry yourself with the utmost respect and know that you are worthy, maybe not to who you may want to be worthy to but because someone else may be watching.”
Ms George also noted that there is no harm in being different from the crowd. “Dare to be different, even if you have to stand alone, dare to be different. That is what I love, being different.”
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22 Responses to “This Week We Feature Young Professional Tamika T. George ”
Congratulations Ms. George.