A number of retirees continue to enjoy good health and physical strength long after retirement. It is for this reason that retirees often opt to remain meaningfully engaged by volunteering, taking up a new hobby, learning a new skill or starting a business.

Being active following retirement helps retirees to keep socially connected and, in some cases, enable them to earn an income to supplement their pension. Besides, it gives them a sense of purpose and is an excellent way to relieve boredom.

The experience is relatable to Franklyn and Valrie Holness, a couple in St Thomas who were intentional about remaining occupied after retirement.

“Ever since I was born, I have always been active,” said Franklyn with a chuckle. “I was brought up by my grandmother. She was active and it was both of us doing everything together. I didn’t know what it was like to relax.”

Similarly, Valrie pointed out that it isn’t her nature to “sit and watch the world go by”.

“I’m not a person who can sit doing nothing; I get bored and I have to always be doing something. That’s me. I have to be helping somebody, and I have to be active,” Valrie said, adding that her retirement years have been fulfilling as a result of taking this approach.

In 2002, the couple opened Providence Kindergarten Preparatory School in Lyssons, St Thomas. At the time, Franklyn had just retired as a supervisor at Alcan Jamaica, and Valrie was approaching retirement.

The retired banker explained that the idea to open the school came about as a result of a literacy project she undertook on behalf of the Jamaica National Building Society, now The Jamaica National Group, while she was manager of the Morant Bay branch.

“It was a competition that we ran among the high schools in the parish. We would give them literature to study and then we used to have play-offs. When the questionnaires were answered, we recognised that a lot of the students were not able to read, so we ran a programme from the branch where we went to have reading sessions in one particular school. We ran those sessions for nearly a year,” she disclosed.

The high level of illiteracy among the students propelled Valrie to intervene to provide greater educational opportunities for children. Besides, her grandchild was about to start school and she wanted a Christian-based institution which placed emphasis on phonics. Her grandchild became one of her first students.

Two decades later, the couple is still actively involved in the operation of the school, which started with nine students and two teachers. Today, the school has an enrollment of 254 students and 22 teachers. The school has emerged the top school at the primary level in the parish, with almost 100 per cent of students at age five being proficient in reading and able to write well. Furthermore, the school continues to have excellent passes in the grade six exit exams, with most of the children passing for the school of their choice. One of the students who sat this year’s Primary Exit Profile (PEP) was awarded a scholarship for being a top student in the parish.

“[It has been] a tremendous amount of satisfaction,” Franklyn emphasised. “It continues to do my heart good when I see the kids, especially from the infant stage, and I assist in guiding them as they grow. I remember when I was in elementary school, there wasn’t that type of thing. It’s a joy for me to do that for kids. I think I have a way with children so it works,” he maintained.

The Holnesses, who are parents to five children and grandparents to seven, are active members of the Danvers Pen Missionary Church where Franklyn retired late last year as an elder, while Valrie is a deaconess. She also serves as a justice of the peace and is treasurer of the Lay Magistrate’s Association in the parish.

“Get yourself involved from now. Plan so that you can step out of a job into something so that you are not caught off guard and you can’t manage your finances,” Valrie advised persons approaching retirement.