For nearly three decades, Janet Haye’s life as a teacher has been similar to that of a candle, because she has been consuming herself to brighten the way for others. Her passion for teaching and the classroom has grown so strong that although she is now in a managerial position, she spends almost all her time interacting with children in their classroom, rather than around her desk. Ms Haye took over the post of principal at Lime Hall Primary near St. Ann’s Bay in St Ann a little over three years ago and it is her desire to see her children excelling, not just academically but also socially. She also wants to see the community becoming more involved in the operations of the school. “I am very passionate about my school and I am also very passionate about my community. I am of the strong opinion that the community should be driven by the school, hence we should see a school really producing students who are academically inclined, socially adjusted and who can really go out and lead and develop the community,” she told The Times. Ms Haye who is a resident of Lime Hall, said that vision is a work in progress and already she said she has been seeing changes in children and parents. “Changes are usually inspired so you will have to be that person to inspire the change and once you can get the persons inspired to change, you will have change.”
“We have parents coming to work from the kitchen to the yard and even the classroom, we have things like literacy class where they (parents) support their children so they will come and we will have literacy classes together.” According to Ms Haye, with the interest that some parents are now showing in their children, and the children themselves beginning to shown interest in not just the academics but other aspects of school life, she believes Lime Hall Primary is poised for greater things in the future. “The children too are becoming more involved in what is happening at school. We have a very vibrant football team, we have very very caring teachers, very creative teachers too, we do well as festival, music dance, speech, the children also do very well at academics,” the principal shared.
