Dr. Gilzine Rose Fearon is a woman of great strength and she has been using her position as a teacher, guidance counsellor, family counsellor, lecturer, deacon, lay preacher and Girls’ Brigade captain to positively impact the lives of people with whom she interacts on a daily basis. And it has not been an easy life for her. During her childhood years, for example, Dr. Fearon spent a total of three years out of school and was in bed, because she was born with a physical defect to her left leg and this saw her undergoing three major surgeries to correct that problem.
The physical defect to her leg she explained to the North Coast Times during an interview, was made worse because she would not keep off her leg and was involved in almost every activity including athletics while she was attending school. Her education could have suffered more had it not been for “Some wonderful teachers. They would send work home and then when I went back to school they would find time to give me special attention; so during recess or lunch time they always found maybe a half hour or so to give me some special help and that impacted on me a lot,” she explained.
The influence from her teachers was so great that from a very early age Dr. Fearon decided that she wanted to be just like her teachers. Besides, school for her was fun and she wanted to help children enjoy their school days so she embarked on a career in teaching.“I enjoyed school… school for me was a well-rounded holistic experience. I got to sing, dance and participate in sports… As soon as they sent me back to school I was on the athletics’ team, I was entering festivals, nobody could beat me in the dance, plus I was involved in 4-H Club where I learned to bake and sew. So it was a wonderful experience. I was inspired by both my teachers and my school experience.”Fresh out of St. Joseph’s Teacher College, she taught at Bonnet Primary school in St. Catherine before she moved on to Ramble All Age, which was much closer to home, in St. Mary. At Ramble, she rekindled her love for drama and had not only her children but also community members involved in drama. Her aim was to make learning fun for her children.“I wanted to make school meaningful for others also and I think I carried over the approach from the experiences I had…I placed a lot of emphasis on using play to teach. I don’t recall any of my students that I have taught from grade one straight up to grade 11 coming through my class not being able to read. I always feel that it is possible for children to learn unless the child is seriously mentally retarded.” Her longest stint in one school was at Oracabessa High School, where she spent 28 years, 18 of which were as the school’s guidance counsellor. She explained that her years at Oracabessa High, where she was a teacher of English before she took on the role of guidance counsellor, were very fulfilling, as she was involved in just about all aspect of the school’s life.
“When I was a teacher I was a member of the guidance committee so when the guidance counsellor left (in those days teachers could have applied for the position) I was encouraged to apply because they felt I had a good interpersonal relationship with the students and teachers and I got the job,” she shared.She said that during her time as guidance counsellor she focused a lot on building a strong Parent Teachers’ Association and she explained that when school and parents work together great things can be achieved. She also focused a lot on seminars for parents to improve their parenting skills as well as helping students to build their self-esteem.Dr. Fearon said she also worked closely with the student council and helped that group develop a small business. During that time she also served as president for the guidance and counselling association in the parish as well as on the national executive, as treasurer. She was also head of the Inter- School Christian Fellowship (ISCF) at the school. While as guidance counsellor, she was also actively involved in drama and she took a lot of students and teachers too to JCDC festival competition where they won several medals.
GUIDANCE & COUNSELLING
While at Oracabessa High, Dr. Fearon was also a lecturer and a supervisor in the Guidance and Counselling Practicum programme at the International University of the Caribbean (IUC) campus in Tower Isle. She started at IUC in 2001 and two years later she became the coordinator for the Practicum programme and is in charge of giving oversight for the parishes of St Mary and St Ann.Whilst she enjoyed the classroom and being around children, Dr. Fearon decided to take early retirement from Oracabessa High in 2005 to give more focus to counselling.Before that, Dr Fearon, a professional counsellor and associate counselling psychologist with the North Coast Counselling Service (formerly Family Life Ministries) was ‘juggling’ three jobs at times. “I made the choice because I felt that I would be touching more lives if I made the shift from just being a guidance counsellor to working with guidance counsellors,” she added. “Here I am still in counselling.”Dr. Fearon is also deeply involved in activities at Grace Baptist Church in Oracabessa where she serves as deacon, lay preacher, teacher, captain of Girls’ Brigade, director of evangelism, leader for drama group action for Christ and is chiefly responsible for the church’s continuing education programme offered to adults in the community.Dr. Fearon has spent 30 years, with the Girls’ Brigade, and she has used her time to mentor girls in the Oracabessa area. She also serves as chairman for Jacks River Primary and Mount Angus Primary and Junior High schools in the parish.A graduate of the Western Carolina University she obtained her B.Sc. in Education (majored in administration and a minor in counselling), a Masters in counselling psychology from the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology and a Ph.D. in Christian Counselling from Andersonville Seminary in the USA. Dr. Fearon has been married to Ransford Fearon, now a retired teacher, for over 40 years and they have two children. However, Dr. Fearon said they took in and grew 12 other children, chiefly from both sides of the family.“I have a sense of satisfaction, that in my life, I have been fulfilling my God given purpose,” she told The Times. “I am guided by first Corinthians 10 vs. 31: ‘Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.’”
