MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Manchester High School educator Petrena Ledgister will return to the classroom today for the start of the new school year, like many others in her profession.

There is nothing unusual about that. However, she is particularly pleased that this time around, a recent successful study stint in Spain is likely to have made her a much more effective teacher.

Ledgister, who teaches Spanish, told the Jamaica Observer Central that she believes students can be motivated by seeing their teachers working towards their own goals.

After spending nine months at the Diplomatic School in Madrid, Spain, pursuing a Masters in Diplomacy and International Relations, Ledgister completed her courses, was certified to prove she met the requisite competencies, graduated, and returned home in June.

“I passed all my exams (there),” she said.

She is now working with an October deadline to submit her dissertation in order to get her masters. The paper is being done in Spanish and examines the impact of using Goat Island, off Jamaica’s southern coast, as a hub for economic activity.

The Diplomatic School, according to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation website, was created in 1942 to train candidates for the diplomatic corps, international civil service posts and other responsibilities.

Ledgister said there were 74 students representing 23 countries at the school, with many being from the legal profession. She described some of the subject areas as unfamiliar territory for her.

She said that her acceptance and success at the “competitive and prestigious” institute was no easy feat and was a combination of hard work, her faith, and a personal sacrifice in terms of family and financial considerations.

According to a representative of the Spanish Embassy in Kingston, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Ledgister was also a pioneer.

The Observer Central was told that Ledgister’s acceptance made her the first educator, from those countries for which the Spanish Embassy in Kingston has responsibility, to earn a place at the Diplomatic School.

“She is the first teacher in Jamaica and the other islands for which we have jurisdiction,” said the source. The embassy caters for Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Dominica, and St Kitts and Nevis.

Observer Central was told that although the Diplomatic School in Spain is open to diplomats and non-diplomats alike, non-diplomats are required to sit an entrance examination which tests the candidates’ mettle, thus the magnitude of Ledgister’s achievement.

“They have to do an in depth essay — there are no past papers, they don’t know what to expect, they have to write in Spanish,” the embassy representative said.

Although Ledgister majored in International Relations and Spanish at the undergraduate level, she has been teaching Spanish for more than 10 years. Ledgister, who also grades the subject for the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), said she still found the Diplomatic School examination challenging.

She aced the test, however, and became the only non-diplomat in the 2014/2015 year selected by the Spanish Embassy in Kingston, and endorsed by the Jamaican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

But success is not new to Ledgister. She said her students consistently achieve commendable passes at the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) levels. She prepares students for the bi-annual Spanish festival organised by the Spanish Teachers Association in Jamaica, where they usually medal.

She was the recipient of a General Teachers’ Scholarship to study at the University of the West Indies and received a scholarship to do a postgraduate teaching diploma in Chile, and has also travelled with Jamaica’s table tennis team to Cuba as Spanish interpreter. She was form teacher of the year at Manchester High in 2014, and was awarded model student at Knox College, along with her twin sister who is also an educator.

She said that she does not only look for opportunities for growth, but she likes to share information and she loves to teach.

The senior educator said she felt first-hand the profound and meaningful impact that a teacher can have on a student and she wants to reach her students in the best way that she can.

Ledgister said that it was the energy and enthusiasm of her Spanish teacher at Knox College that first got her excited about the subject.

“She sold her product to me. It was like she brought Spain to the class. I consider myself a salesperson when it comes to teaching,” she said.

She said that going to Spain meant leaving her 11- and five-year-old daughters for longer than normal. Hearing her five-year-old telling her on the telephone, three months into the programme, that she could not go on anymore without her could easily have derailed her focus.

Ledgister said that it was the greater purpose of achieving through study, and her faith in God, that enabled her to persevere.

“I went to Spain with a level of faith. God really, really was there with me,” she said.

Ledgister said that at some point during her professional career she also hopes to use her skills and experiences to serve in the diplomatic field as an ambassador.

“Some things sound unreachable, but you have to keep trying,” said the Spanish educator, who will now be the acting head of the Modern Languages Department at Manchester High School.