TEACHING is more than classroom work; it also includes quietly tutoring learners for free at home.

For Dox John and his wife, Holly Ladona, both teachers, teaching is more than classroom effort. It is part of their daily lives, as they host free classes at home and give their time to promote learning even when no one is looking.

John is a teacher at Annai Secondary School, while his wife teaches at Rupertee Primary School, also in Region Nine.

John told the Pepperpot Magazine that he was born in Paramakatoi, Region Eight, the land of the Patamona people, and grew up there.

He completed all his schooling in Paramakatoi. Both of his parents and his wife’s father were teachers, so teaching was part of their lives from the outset.

His wife, Holly, is a beautiful teacher of Macushi descent from Aranaputa, Region Nine. She has spent most of her teaching career working with primary schoolchildren, particularly those in Grades Four and Five.

She has taught at Annai Primary School and Kurupukari Primary School and currently teaches at Rupertee Primary School.

John said he and his wife are most grateful to have passed all the subjects they wrote at the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) level, which was a challenge because, at the time, they did not have the resources available.

However, after completing his secondary education, he taught at Paramakatoi Secondary School for about a year before eventually resigning.

After that, he attended the Hauraruni International Training Centre, a full-time training centre for people who felt God’s call to enter ministry.

There, he met his wife, who was a year ahead of him in training, and after he completed his training, they married in 2018.

“I believe that our experience at that institution has continued to influence the way we see people. We learned to look at people as individuals with value and purpose. That has carried over into our classrooms. We try to remember that every child can learn and is worth teaching,” he said.

John reported that, after their wedding, he moved to Region Nine to live with his wife, who was already teaching.

He did small construction jobs, worked at GECOM, and worked in security while waiting to begin his teaching career.

His wife encouraged him to apply to the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) in 2021. He took her advice and went to CPCE, where he completed his studies in 2023, majoring in secondary-level Mathematics.

John said that during the COVID-19 school shutdown, their tiny house became a place of learning where both primary and secondary students visited for lessons.

He added that they were privileged to say that those students had uninterrupted schooling, although it was not as full-time as normal school hours.

“I don’t know how we managed all those levels and classes of students, but my wife found a way to make it work. Since then, we have given our service through lessons to students from communities such as Annai, Aranaputa, St Ignatius, Lethem, Yakarinta, Kokshebai and Paramakatoi, among other villages,” he said.

However, when Holly was transferred to Kurupukari Primary School, a small community in the Iwokrama rainforest, they came across secondary-level students who, because of the effects of COVID-19, had not been able to return to their respective secondary schools.

At the time, he was attending CPCE online and was not yet part of the formal teaching system, but Holly suggested that he teach them. They worked collectively with students from Grades Seven to 10 in Mathematics and English.

John said they tried to help where they could, and it was rewarding to see the students keep learning.

He related that, even before he became a teacher, he admired Holly’s commitment to her students. He would watch how she worked with a class and, by the time the students moved on, he could usually see some growth.

He stated that Holly was never interested only in whether they were learning academically; character was always part of what she tried to build in them.

John told the Pepperpot Magazine that one experience at Rupertee made him especially proud of her. When she was transferred there, she took a Grade Five class and continued with those students into Grade Six.

He said he would assist from time to time, particularly with Mathematics, and the students performed well when they wrote the NGSA.

He said the pass rate for all subjects was above 50 per cent, and three students earned scholarships to schools on the coast.

John said their home has also become part of their teaching life. There have been many evenings when they made teaching aids and discussed student issues as they tried to find ways to assist their learners better.

He reported that, in 2025, after his mother passed away, he requested and received a transfer to Paramakatoi Secondary School so that he could spend some time with his father. Holly took one year of no-pay leave and went with him.

John said that when they arrived, she began connecting with the primary school and learning about the needs of the Grade Five and Grade Six pupils.

Before long, they began providing lessons in Mathematics and English again, including for some upper-secondary students.

He added that, during their teaching careers, they have crossed paths with exemplary teachers who helped them along the way and continue to do so to date.

For his wife, these included teachers such as Sir Bryan Chintaman, who currently heads Annai Primary School; Sir Quado Vancotten, the headmaster of Kurupukari Primary School; and Miss Pennelope O’Conel, the headmistress of Maruranau Secondary School. They have all been there for her from the beginning of her career, guiding her along the way.

For him, his parents were role models, along with people such as Miss Rowena Peters of CPCE and, at the University of Guyana, Dr Troy Brown and the late Sir Nathram Ragubhansi.

John noted that he and his wife have also had the privilege of working as part-time tutors for the Cyril Potter College of Education’s Annai Branch, tutoring Social Studies and Mathematics to teachers in the upgrading programme and Music to teachers in the ADE programme.

“I recently completed my Bachelor of Education at the University of Guyana (UG), also majoring in Mathematics, and I currently teach Mathematics to Grades Seven and 10 at Annai Secondary School. My wife is in her final year at UG, pursuing her Bachelor of Education,” he said.

John explained that, when school is on break, they share their time between their family and students during lessons.

In his own free time, he enjoys writing and recording songs in his native Patamona language, which he shares on his Facebook page, Blesson’s Gospel Rhythms.

He noted that being able to praise God and express his faith in his own language is very important to him. It is also a way for him to keep his language and cultural traditions alive and share them with others.

John said that in the communities where they have taught, they hope the seeds they planted will, in turn, begin to bear fruit through investment in younger generations.

He said one of his wife’s quotes is: “I try with students since they will create the society in which my children will grow up.” He believes that quote. As parents of a son who started school this term, that quote hits home.

John told the Pepperpot Magazine that, as teachers, they wield great influence over the next generation: to inspire or discourage, to give guidance or confuse minds. They have a mission to make a difference, and what better way is there than by modelling good behaviour?

He said they often pray with the learners, asking that they learn and overcome challenges.

“And when they succeed, we believe it is a result of their support system, as well as our teaching and prayers,” he said.