Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to Mrs. Avis Carrington, a beloved educator in my country, Barbados.
The feature is in two parts so I will only provide the links to the documentary and cricket fans may want to see this as the internationally-renowned Barbadian and West Indies cricketer, Sir Wes Hall, also remembers her as his teacher when he was at a public primary school. Below is the BGIS trailer. (Now the opening theme music may seem a bit tinny, but bear with it and if you did not click the link for the feature before, most likely you will after seeing the clip).
In the second part Barbados' first female Prime Minister, the Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, speaks of her in a very down-to-earth manner. Actually, I know someone who taught briefly at the school in the very early stages and she recalls Madam Prime Minister, at age 7 or so, correcting some error she made at the chalkboard. I can only imagine it. One of my friends is an alum of the school founded by Mrs. Carrington, Merrivale Preparatory School, which finally closed its doors 10 years ago, when Mrs. Carrington retired at the great age of 90.
Her older sister, Ms. Constance Inniss is another centenarian. She was a principal of my alma mater, known as St. Michael Girls' School at that time, which Avis attended when she was young. Boys were admitted in my first year there when it became The St. Michael School, Nisi Auxilio Dei Nihil! Ms. Inniss is immortalised on a commemorative set of stamps produced by the Barbados Postal Service in celebration of Barbados' centenarians. She is 103 years old now and is alive, as I write this.
So here's to all educators. May you leave with your charges the kind of legacy that these wonderful women left with theirs. Here's the classic Bette Midler "Wind Beneath My Wings", just for you. May your students be able to say the same of you.
Bette Midler - Wind Beneath My Wings (Official Music Video): Credit: Rhino [September 2014]
