FORTY years ago Gloria Johnson chose teaching over nursing after receiving word that she had been accepted to pursue her education in both disciplines.

The now retired principal of Moneague Teachers’ College in St Ann says she has not regretted the decision, while holding fast to the belief that it was God’s chosen direction for her life.

“I had a praying grandmother and when my siblings and I came home from school every day, we would see her on her knees praying for us by name and asking God to bless us. So when I chose teaching, I had no doubt it was the leading of the Lord,” she said.

As a young girl from the little district of lower Buxton in St Ann, Johnson never dreamed that the day she left for school in Kingston would be the beginning of a 37-year career as an educator.

After completing Shortwood Teachers’ College, she returned to the parish of her birth, where she landed her first job as a teacher at St Ann’s Bay Primary. She was entrusted with the students of grade one, but this proved a challenge for the young teacher.

“Because of the excessive talking to the small children, I lost my voice and could not speak,” Johnson recalled.

A visit to her doctor confirmed her worst fear: she would have to give up teaching or risk losing her voice due to the strain. A second opinion from an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist was no more encouraging.

Johnson, however, was determined not to leave the profession she believed God had called her to.

Given her determination, the then principal of St Ann’s Bay Primary transferred her to teach grade three. For Johnson, the decision was a godsend – not only were the children intelligent, they were also willing to learn.

Before long, her work with those students was recognised and the principal allowed her to teach a common entrance class. Here again she found success: within a year, the common entrance pass rate had increased from three to about 20 students.

“We started getting so many passes, and some students started leaving other schools to come to St Ann’s Bay Primary because they heard of what was happening there,” said the mother of two.

Johnson stayed at that school until 1973, when she got a scholarship to study at the University of the West Indies (UWI), where she earned a degree in History and Sociology.

Her love for St Ann saw her returning to the parish in 1976. Immediately, she went to work at Moneague Teachers’ College where she was to spend the greater portion of her career.

It was during this time that she met and married Charles, a commissioned land surveyor, and moved to Claremont where she has lived ever since.

But the transition from primary school to a college was more than a reality check for Johnson, whose first assignment was to teach English to a group of young adults.

“I remember when I went to my English class and I gave these students at college level something to write and my grade six students used to write better than they did,” she said. “I remember one day I was marking a set of papers, and I was almost crying when I was reading what they wrote, and one of my colleagues said ‘Gloria there is a lot you will have to learn’.”

But over time, Johnson perfected her teaching craft – with the support of some older lecturers who took her under their wing.

Her many years of contribution to the education system, Johnson said, have not been without challenges. She believes that had she not been called to that profession, things might have been different.

“Teachers are born, not made… It is a gift from God,” she said.

Johnson added that the profession was more than just about passing on information. It is also, she said, about loving people and helping to mould them into a total person.

At the peak of her career in 1985, Johnson heard that Moneague would be closed.

“Everybody was so disappointed and it was very traumatic for both the lecturers and the students who were sent to different colleges,” she said.

Faced with very few options, Johnson took a position at Fern Court High where she spent a year – hoping all the time that the college would reopen.

Her hope was realised a year later, when a special programme was started at Moneague College, offering advanced training for principals and vice-principals. She was only too glad to return to the institution despite her new role as an administrator.

Moneague later began to offer an upgraded programme for practising teachers, and Johnson was able to return to the classroom. By 1994, the college became a multi-disciplinary institution, combining teachers’ training with other disciplines.

In 1995, her years of hard work paid off with her appointment as principal of the college. She had never thought of becoming a principal, but attributed her promotion to God having a hand in her life.

Today, Johnson has come full circle. Only two years after retiring from Moneague, she has started a preparatory school in St Ann’s Bay. The school opened its doors to students last September.

Her aim now, Johnson said, is to help – through her preparatory school – to build a proper educational foundation for students before they get to the college level.

“I used to pray and ask the Lord ‘if it is your will, give me 15 students to start with’, and would you believe he gave me 15?” she said in awe.