Rhonda Jones: Teaching youth they have worth

Growing up in Eastern Quarry, Laventille, Rhonda Jones’s house was the place to be on a Sunday morning. The scent of her mother’s fresh bread had all the community’s children gathering by her house to ask, “Ms Marilyn…yuh bake any bread?”

Jones’ mother gave selflessly to many, and Jones shared the same values, so it was no surprise that she found a passion in a field that required it.

After leaving secondary school Jones’s family went through a rough spot as her parents were unemployed. The eldest of 11 siblings, her instinct to nurture set in. She painted a blackboard on a wall in the family’s home and started teaching her two younger sisters with just some chalk and an alphabet chart. Word quickly spread and, in a few months, “Aunty Rhonda” was giving free classes to eight children, sparking her love for teaching.

“My mother instilled certain things in me. As children she took all the village children on outings by hiring maxis,” Jones, 52, told WMN during an interview at the La Horquetta South Government Primary School (LHSGPS).

After 33 years in the education system and 21 years teaching at the school, she was recently awarded the TT United Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) Frank B Seepersad Memorial Award for Teacher of the Year 2019. But behind the honour is the story of a woman guided by her mothers’ selflessness and embracing sacrifices.

Moving to La Horquetta in her late teenage years, she went on to study early childhood care at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus. She later registered to be a teacher, but her name languished on the list, so she opened a small preschool in her gallery at home.

While early childhood care was her passion, she wanted to expand her skills. Attending Valsayn Teachers’ College to add to her qualifications seemed a distant dream for her because it was too expensive. However, it became a reality in 1997 when Rhonda Maingot and Rosemary Scott of Living Water Community secured help for her.

“They got a sponsor for me because I had to pay as a private student. I wasn’t like all the teachers who attended, and they would get their salary. I had no salary for two years, no kind of money coming in, but I got help from Living Waters.

“They would give me a little travelling money and that’s how I survived for the two years.”

In 1999 she graduated from the college, and still unemployed, she convinced then LHSGPS principal Elizabeth Scott to give her the opportunity to be a volunteer teacher. As a volunteer she religiously reported for duty every morning and ensured to dress the part. In 2000, a teacher left the school, opening a space for her.

“I always try to do a little more to make my teaching a little different. I am very active so I take my children out to the courtyard and we would do stuff, but learning is taking place.”

She also has a strategy in her class called shout out. In a designated time, each student will stand in class and shout out something great that a fellow classmate did.

She said it took some time for her to get the courage to consider putting herself up for the title of TUTTA’s Teacher of the Year, but she has no regrets and is a grateful for the title.

“Every year since 1991 they have been doing this teacher of the year award. To be honest, about two years ago I said let me put my head in the ring.” Jones has been a TUTTA member for the past 19 years and has served on the body’s St George East District committee.

However, due to unforeseen circumstances she was unable to complete the application. She then sat on the sidelines and in 2019 decided to give it one more push, a reflection of her continued fighting spirit. After a rigorous selection process, she emerged successful.

Asked what she hopes to do with the platform she said, “One of things I want to do, and I have started, is to support TUTTA’s district outreach programme to encourage more teachers to join TUTTA.” She wants to see a growth of the teachers’ union especially with younger teachers.

And while she continues to her efforts to positively redirect the lives of those in the classroom, outside of the classroom she continues to use her life’s difficulties as a source of strength to help uplift others.

In 2008 her brother was murdered and recognising the consequences of his bad decisions, at all cost she wanted to protect youths in La Horquetta from making similar decisions. Following the murder, she started the LH Movers Sports and Cultural Committee.

“Through the group I have been able to meet with people on a one and one basis. I got to help them to understand that they have worth. I tell young people, especially those in the community, that La Horquetta is only a starting point.

“Their talent is immense and out of this world. If they don’t get an opportunity to unearth or expose it, it sits in a corner and do nothing.”

The committee organises community sporting, carnival and cultural activities. Continuing her mother’s tradition of giving young people the opportunity to see a world beyond the boundaries of their community, she takes children from La Horquetta to Tobago during their vacation time.

“For every child we save, we make a difference. If everyone saves just one person, a lot of young people can know they are worth something and believe they can do something better than what is happening now in their lives.

“One of the things that I tell the young people I work with is you win and lose by the things you choose,” she said while stressing the importance of young people understanding the need to make careful choices with their free will.

Near and dear to her heart is also the power of sport. One of the hats she proudly that of a qualified cricket coach and umpire with certifications from the West Indies and Australia. Her work in cricket have seen her working with both young men and women who have gone one to excel both locally and regionally.

Notable names include West Indies Under 19 players Leonardo Julien and Kirstan Kallicharan. She was also instrumental in taking female cricket players to tournaments in Argentina, Guyana and Barbados.

Jones has come a long way from her humble days in Laventille, where she recalls pitching marbles and flying "chickie chong" kites on what was used to be the grounds of the Highlanders Pan Tent now occupied by the Success Laventille School.

As she moves forward in her purpose, she is working on a community storytelling initiative, planning to further develop libraries in at least eight schools throughout the St George District and wants to encourage more teachers to participate in TUTTA’s teacher of the year process. She is also eager to help nurture the next generation of teachers and freely shares her classroom methods to help them develop their skills.

“I believe the more you share is the more you learn. I find time to help teachers in their methods and guide them. The ones who try it and appreciate it usually give great feedback.”