IF anybody had told Headteacher of Lodge Nursery School, Donna Edghilo, that her school would be the winner of this year’s Children’s Costume and Float Parade, she might have been in doubt.

But it happened. The school won and it goes to show that, through hard work and dedication, anything is possible.

Edghilo has been at the Lodge Nursery School since 2017. However, she taught at other schools such as Plaisance Nursery, Sherman’s Nursery and J.E. Burnham Nursery, where she started her teaching career. She was once the headteacher of Plaisance Nursery.

“Teaching just happened for me. When my mom went to the Ministry of Education to get my sister in a school, I went along, and it dawned on me that I had to do something with myself and vowed to myself I would become a teacher. I didn’t mind teaching because I like children and nursery is the best and I have been at it for more than 25 years,” she said.

Becoming a teacher
The headteacher was trained at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and later at the University of Guyana (UG) where she secured a Bachelor of Education. Edghilo has a Certificate in Management and is also a certificated dance teacher.

As a child, Edghilo always fancied dancing, but, with a strict father, she was unable to blossom until she was of age and thus in a position to enroll in dancing classes.

Initially, Edghilo taught at both primary and secondary schools. However, she later specialised in nursery education. “I would say the best part of teaching for me is seeing children realise their true potential in school work, for example, when the quiet ones come out as the best dancers for the Children’s Costume and Float Parade,” she explained.

Noting that times have changed with the digital age, Edghilo said children are more drawn to technology such as smart phones and have put aside the old-fashioned way of reading from a text book.

“Sometimes some children are very quiet and withdrawn in class. Very often, those are the ones who are caught between parents who have domestic issues and when you engage them in simple tasks like drawing that brings out the best in them,” she said.

The mother of three pointed out that in 1998, soon after completing CPCE, she started to experiment with designing children’s costumes but was on a pause until 2000.

Designing
Edghilo was successful in making, ‘from scratch’, both float and costumes to outfit 15 children ages four and five years old and placed first among the 15 nursery schools that participated on February 15, 2020 in the Children’s Costume and Float Parade.

In the past, her school also gained first place among other winnings.

This year, Edghilo’s theme was ‘Uniting Guyana with love.’ Her costumes were made from pieces of materials collected from the large Float Parade.

Due to a lack of funds, the headteacher would oftentimes use her own money to create costumes with support from a few parents.

Edghilo added that, at times too, once permission was granted, they would use funds from the Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) Fund but stated that it would be nice if a grant can be given by the ministry, especially for Mashramani.

“This year’s win was bitter sweet because with a low budget, using whatever we had and a lot of asking people to assist, we did manage to pull it off. I am grateful for the support I received from a few parents and my 11 teachers,” she said.

She pointed out that the main costume took a few days to complete. It depicted Guyana’s resources, the people, a map of the administrative regions and our flora and fauna.

The boys of Lodge Nursery School were outfitted with colours of the Golden Arrowhead while the girls wore red, yellow and green with hats of hearts.

Edghilo told the Guyana Chronicle that the costumes of revellers took some time to finish but her mother and teachers were assigned tasks and it was a collective effort and they all worked tirelessly to make it happen.

The Headteacher reported that often parents don’t see teachers as human beings with responsibilities. “Today, we spend more time instilling moral values than teaching because children come with a lot of domestic-related issues; some three-and four-year-olds seem to be in control of their parents, and, as such, they have no discipline. We therefore have, at times, to do more talking than teaching and it puts a strain on us. My advice to parents is exercise tough love, discipline your children and at the same time involve them in activities that will boost their self-confidence,” Edghilo said.