– Verna Johnson swapped a desire for the Army and grew to love teaching

After being in the noble profession of teaching for 38 years, Verna Johnson has no regrets and if she had to, she’d do it all over again. Johnson was one of 44 teachers from all across Guyana who were awarded for their outstanding service to the teaching profession at National Teacher’s Award ceremony at the National Cultural Centre on May 30, 2016.
Johnson told the Guyana Chronicle that she misses teaching because of the children, thousands of whom passed through the schools she taught.
“Having taught so many and for so long, it became a part of me and it is good seeing some of them having good jobs,” Johnson told the Guyana Chronicle.
Strange enough, she never wanted to be a teacher.
Johnson was born, with her identical twin sister, on the Corentyne Coast in 1960. Her father, Albert was an employee of the Ministry of Public Works and her mother, Annie King served as a housewife.
The legacy of teaching was left to Johnson by her father who was a teacher for a period in his life.
She hails from a family of teachers; five were graduate teachers, of which four were head teachers. Coincidentally, her twin sister is also a retired head teacher, who last served as head-teacher of Stella Maris Primary
She grew up in a village about 20 miles from New Amsterdam and started school at Eversham Church of Scotland School, about half mile from her home.
In 1967, after her father died, the family moved to Corriverton, thus her Primary education continued at St. Margaret’s Primary, now renamed Corriverton Primary.
As a single-parent, her mother was unable to pay for extra lessons, which was a criterion to be placed in the class to write the Secondary School Entrance Examination, so she was unable to do so. However, the opportunity came for her to attend Secondary School when she wrote the Preliminary Certificate of Examination in 1972 and was successful.
Johnson’s Secondary education was obtained at the Skeldon Line Path Government Secondary School where she wrote and was successful at five subjects at the GCE O Level.
Teaching was the last thing on her mind when she completed her Secondary education. She was always interested in the military but was dissuaded, as in those days females seldom chose that field as a career. However, she found satisfaction in the teaching profession.
Her professional career began at the age of sixteen on October 19, 1976 at the Corriverton Primary School as an Acting Teacher. In September 1977, she pursued studies at the Cyril Potter College of Education and graduated two years later as a Trained Class One, Grade One teacher before continuing her teaching career at Crabwood Creek Primary School for one year before returning to Corriverton Primary in 1980.
Attending CPCE afforded her to meet her future life partner and she married Mr. Alvin Johnson on September 5, 1981. This union produced three girls, two of whom are Trained Teachers.
Being transferred to Parika-Salem Primary School effective September 4, 1981, Johnson continued there until she was promoted to Senior Mistress, effective September 1, 1993.
During her tenure at Parika-Salem, some of her years were spent teaching the Grade Six and Ms Johnson remembered her time at Primary School, when, because of her family being financially challenged, she was unable to write this examination.
As such, she devoted her time and energies to tutoring her students after regular school hours and on weekends free of charge.
She acted in the position of Deputy Headteacher at Parika-Salem for three years from September 2001 before being confirmed in this position at Philadelphia Primary School (Grade B School) on September1, 2004.
In September 2006, she was promoted to Deputy Head (Grade A) at Leonora Primary. She returned to Philadelphia Primary on January 4, 2008, but this time in the capacity of Headteacher.
Johnson always promised that she would not pursue any other studies until her children had completed their Primary education, so in September 2004, when her last child began her Secondary education, she commenced reading for a Bachelor’s Degree in Education Administration at the University of Guyana.
She completed her Certificate in Education with a distinction while gaining two other awards – the University of Guyana Award for outstanding performance in the academic year 2005/2006 and the Guyana Teachers Union Award for the runner-up best graduating student. She graduated with distinction in 2008. Prior to that, in 2004 she successfully completed an Education Management Programme sponsored by NCERD for school managers.
Verna Johnson attends the Elim Pentecostal Church at Parika and is an active member. Her social life is not very active for as she says, she is most comfortable being at home and concentrating on domestic activities such as knitting and a little sewing.
In 2013, Philadelphia Primary School was downgraded to C, thus Johnson was transferred to Greenwich Park Primary School where she served until she retired with effect from April 1, 2015 as a Graduate headteacher, after serving in the education sector for thirty eight years, five months and twelve days.
Though no longer in the classroom, she is still involved in education, serving at the Ministry of Education Department in Region 3 Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara.
Johnson said she did not regret teaching because of the experience she gained through the years.
She also taught her own children.
Her advice to young teachers is to make it a long term career only if they love it, as “it is the love for teaching that makes it worthwhile.” (Michel Ouridge)