21 years in education and changing lives.
After 21 years serving in the field of education, Michelle White-Guy is looking forward to continued contribution to the development of the Steer Town Primary and Junior High School in St. Ann.
“Teaching is and has been my life.” Mrs. White-Guy said.
As a young girl growing up in Gayle, St. Mary; Michelle White knew that teaching was her destiny. Her career in education began when she gained employment at the Ramble All- Age School as a pre-trained teacher. It has been a challenging but rewarding journey since then.
In an interview with The Times Mrs. White-Guy said that after spending 21 years in education, she continues to push forward because of the pleasure that she gets from seeing her students excel.
Mrs. Guy was born in Kingston but grew up in Gayle, St. Mary. She grew up in an extended family setting with her mother, one brother, two sisters, grandmother and cousins. She said “My mother Francella Rennie is a loving and caring mother who understands the importance of attaining a sound education.”
Her religious upbringing was solid. As at a tender age she became a member of the Gayle United Pentecostal Church.
Michelle blossomed into a beautiful servant leader as she assumed many leadership roles such as Sunday school teacher, mission’s director and choir director.
Michelle White attended Tacky High School where she served her school community as peer counsellor, prefect, Girl Guide leader, netball captain and head girl.
It was at Tacky High school that Mrs. White-Guy found her calling in life when her Home Economics teacher, Lorna Senior, gave her a taste of what it meant to be a teacher. Ms Senior was the one who gave young Michelle White her first class to teach. The teacher often gave her lesson plans to Michelle, instructing her to teach her peers. Mrs White Guy recalled also the positive impact great teachers such as Ivorene Henry, Mr. Mattar and Ms. White among others had on her life.
ADMIRATION
“These experiences and my admiration for the way they taught their classes with such care while taking into consideration each and every student is what propelled me into becoming a teacher,” she explained.
Michelle White-Guy attended the Bethlehem Moravian Teachers College from which she graduated with a teaching Diploma. Later she attained her Bachelor’s degree from the International University of the Caribbean. She is pursuing her second degree in Educational Leadership and Supervision at the Western Carolina University.
Mrs. Guy has taught at Ramble All-Age and Labyrinth All-Age in St Mary, from1995-1997. She has been at the Steer Town Primary and Junior High since 2001. She was also a part time lecturer at the University of the West Indies open campus distance education campus in Ocho Rios, where she lectured in the Social Work Department.
At Steer Town, Mrs.Guy started out serving as a grade seven classroom and form teacher for five years after which she became the guidance counselor, in 2006 and served in that position for six years.
During her time as counsellor she was able to go into homes in the Steer Town community to interact with parents in order to better understand and deal with the problems that were affecting the children. She had come to realize that many students failed to perform at their best because of the many socio-economic problems which they faced. She would then work collaboratively with Mrs. Williams-Reid to develop programmes that addressed most of the issues students were having. The breakfast programme was one such initiative. To date there exists a group of extraordinary parents from the community who prepare and serves breakfast to almost 50 students, four mornings of the week at the school.
Stewardship as Principal
Mrs White Guy was appointed acting principal in 2013 and seven months later was made principal of the institution.
Mrs. White Guy continues to strengthen her excellent relationship with parents through the new parenting programme in collaboration with HEART NTA where over 30 parents now attend classes in housekeeping at the school twice per week. She also initiated a literacy and numeracy after-school programme for parents.
The hard-working principal recognized that, at her school, data revealed that there were more boys than girls and that the boys were out performed academically by the girls. This led her to initiate a boys’ programme during her leadership training with the National College of Educational Leadership (NCEL) in 2014. The boys’ programme focused on improving teaching strategies which catered to boys’ learning styles, building self-esteem and social skills. This programme was a success as value was added to the lives of the boys in all areas. The school was also recommended by the Ministry of Education for research to be carried out on the programme.
The construction of a visitors waiting area was also done so as to enhance the level of customer service given to visitors on a daily basis.
Mrs. White-Guy was overwhelmed with the GSAT results during her first year as principal as many students scored perfect scores in two or more subject areas. Other students returned an average from 80.8% to 99%. Mrs. White Guy attributes the year’s success to the support of the hard working teaching staff and parents.
Mrs. Guy continues to serve the Steer Town community and other adjoining communities as motivational speaker, marriage counsellor and master of ceremonies at various functions.
In 2008 she was awarded for outstanding service as the contact teacher from T.I.P Friendly Society. She was also recognized, in 2012, by the Steer Town Primary and Junior High School for outstanding service in the Guidance Department.
Family Life
Michelle White-Guy resides with her family in Three Hills, St. Mary. She is an ardent believer in God and attends the Mt Carmel Apostolic Church in Moneague where her husband Mark Anthony Guy is the pastor and where she is the evangelist, assistant choir director, Sunday school director and general secretary. Mrs. White-Guy has two daughters; Annalise and Abrianna Guy.
Her philosophy is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Mrs. Guy is a no nonsense person with a vision for the continuous growth and development of the Steer Town Primary School. Despite the many challenges she faces on a daily basis her mind is fixed on maintaining the high values and standards of the institution knowing that her adversities come only to make her stronger.
