After 38 years as an educator, and being told to give up teaching due to medical reasons, Donna West continues to be one of the most sought after teachers in Lyssons, St Thomas, when it comes to primary level education.

The reason? She is a strict disciplinarian who gets the job done with tonnes of love, while ensuring that children exercise their rights.

According to one of her past students – now corporate lawyer – Jenee Stephens, “She is a strict disciplinarian, a caring mother and a motivational speaker. Her resounding voice had the power to instil fear, command respect and still be a comfort to all those who had the pleasure of being in her class. She gave her students far more than the traditional education. She was our teacher, mother and friend – always there to help us even when we did not ask, and pulling us back when we stepped out of line.”

Stephens was taught by West when she was only six years old in first grade at Morant Bay Preparatory school.

According to Stephens, West still remains the voice of reason in her subconsciousness today.

And while many teachers complain of not getting enough salary or being stressed over their jobs, for West, being an educator for 38 years has been easy.

“For me it is easy ’cause I love what I do,” she said simply. “I have no children of my own, but I absolutely love children and at the primary level you are able to mould them into the men and women of tomorrow who will make something of themselves. Teaching was always in me. In primary school whenever the teacher was absent, I would be the one to teach the class. I loved that!

“I loved nursing back then, but when I was 19 I met in a car accident and that just shattered that dream.”

Today, teaching is her life.

West currently teaches at the Providence Preparatory School in Lyssons, where she has been since the school started seven years ago.

Colleague Tamara Hay says because of her reputation, parents registering students at the school will ask specifically that their child be placed in ‘Ms West’s class’.

“Of course we know that is not possible because not every child coming in would be able to be placed in Ms West’s class. She loves children, she treats them as she would her own. You can stop in Morant Bay and ask anybody about Ms West and they all have good things to say.”

In fact, West loves teaching so much that she is, as evident in the school’s register, the first teacher to be at the school and the last to leave – every day!

“Even when school is on holiday I am here because I teach summer class. If I am not at school I am at church. But I enjoy working with children,” she admitted.

West started her career at Belvedere Prep in St Thomas, which later moved from the Belvedere property to Morant Bay. The school then changed names to Morant Bay Preparatory, and there she spent 27 years, leaving only because of medical reasons. After overcoming her illness, instead of going back to that school, and upon the request of Franklyn Holness, principal and founder of her current school, West became the first teacher at Providence Prep when it started in 2004.

“When my wife and I decided to start a school, simply because my granddaughter was two plus and we couldn’t find a school good enough for her – God smiled on us, and we started this school. Ms West was the first teacher here in September 2002 when we started with four students. By the following January we had 14, and today we are proud to say that we have 245 students and she is still here with us,” Holness said.

West proudly admits that over the years, lawyers, doctors, captains and lots and lots of teachers have passed through her hands and she is only too happy to have been a part of their moulding.

West was born and grew up in Morant Bay, and according to Holness, as a girl growing up, West was one of the ‘good, good’ girls.

“Back then you didn’t really have bad girls, but she was really one of the good, good girls. She was a virtuous girl and she grew up into a virtuous woman,” he said.

Along with her love for teaching is her love for dogs, cats and floral arrangements.

“I love dogs but I am now into cats. I also do floral arrangements for church and graduations. I used to sing but don’t do it anymore. When I got ill, I was told by doctors not to teach and not to sing anymore. But I still teach. I can’t give that up!”

West believes that teachers in Jamaica must be more dedicated to their jobs.

“Sometimes you find children turning out a certain way and the truth is that it is not the child’s fault, and you realise that teachers could have done more. I believe teachers must lead by example. My motto is ‘let your conscience be your guide, I live by that daily.”

West’s soft, yet firm voice, her perfect English and her skirts below her knees – historical symbols of a respectable teacher – speak volumes of the type of person she really is.