MORVIA Facey-Gordon is a woman of substance.

She has been in the classroom for the last 25 years. That’s a quarter of a century. But this bastion of primary education still has the same passion, strong sense of love for children and loyalty to duty that took her to the classroom more than two decades ago.

Her efforts, though, have not gone unrecognised. Last year she received the Lasco ‘Teacher of the Year’ Award – an award given to teachers in independent (private) schools.

Gordon began her career in the early 1980s at what she describes as “a little school in Cedar Valley in St Catherine”.

Two years into her career, she switched gears and headed to the Pembroke Hall Primary School in Kingston – an experience that perhaps, had the greatest influence on her career.

She still remembers how the then principal “Mrs Campbell” inspired her, encouraging her and her colleagues to sacrifice all for the students. “She allowed me to think differently,” she explained. “There are several things she instilled in me as a young teacher that I still use in the classroom today.”

But after years in the public school system, Gordon began feeling the urge to return to her roots. She had studied at the then West Indies College (now Northern Caribbean University) where she received her first degree in teacher education.

Having been commended repeatedly by her peers as a truly outstanding teacher, Gordon felt it was time to take what she had learnt back to her own institution.

“I was often told that I’m a good teacher. Well, I said, if I’m hearing these good things about me I ought to [go] back to the institution that trained me and give something back,” she explains.

She made true on her promise and went back to teach at the West Indies College Preparatory School.

She recalled her first impressions of the school.

“One day I was at my classroom and a child picked up a $100 [note] from somewhere and he brought it to me and said ‘Miss, I found this’. Because I’d never had that experience of a child picking up money outside and taking it to a teacher, I was quite impressed with the honesty. I was also impressed with the Weeks of Prayer, the spiritual emphasis. Each day you had a very special devotion with them (students),” she recalled.

Life was never easy for Gordon whose mother was a domestic helper and her father, a farmer. She felt the rigours of poverty during her early years. But she remembers them as happy days.

Born in the parish of Portland, Gordon enjoyed the rustic hills, the lush greenery and playing cricket games along the road. She said her first instincts urged her to nursing but after being told she had to wait one year following the interview, she opted for the classroom.

“I couldn’t wait, I wanted to become a professional,” she said.

It was a particularly bad experience that fuelled her drive to succeed. As a young girl seeking summer employment, she was left behind in the rush – her lack of qualification being her biggest setback.

This, she said, inspired her to qualify herself and take her place in the world of work.

Today, Gordon still serves at the West Indies College Preparatory School, challenging minds, sharing knowledge and shaping the future of the young. She commends Lasco for its recognition of teachers “because teachers are nation builders”.

“While (other) people tend to look at the negative, Lasco has sought to focus on the positive,” she said, referring to increased criticisms against local teachers.

She now holds a Master’s degree, but has had no desire to move on to the secondary or tertiary level. Why?

“The primary school, as I see it, is the foundation of the learning institution and we need to have our best teachers at that level because if we’re building a foundation and we do not want it to topple over, then we need to have a solid foundation. I think I can make a personal impact by being with the students at that level and really laying a good foundation,” she said.