Teacher overcomes financial hurdles to start own school

While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive job cuts and strangled the world economy, Clarendon-based teacher Ann Marie Fagan-Williams managed to create employment while teaching the nation's youth.

She started 3S Kindergarten and Early Childhood Institution in May Pen in the parish. Registration of students started in July.

Fagan-Williams said, when the Government ordered that all schools be closed in March, she began homeschooling some of the students she had at Silverstone Basic School in Portmore, St Catherine.

"My husband suggested that I teach them at home, so the students would leave all the way from Portmore to May Pen for school. I had to keep them for the week and the parents would come and pick them up on Fridays. We had about 11 children staying with us. They were a handful, but I love my children," he said.

She said a relative told her about a basic school that was closing permanently and suggested that she reopen it. Fagan-Williams was interested, but was financially challenged.

"I went there and spoke to the lady who owned the property. She told me that she was willingly to lease me the property that had the school. I told her I wanted it but I knew I wasn't able to find the $75,000, but I was just relying on my faith. The MP (for Central Clarendon) Mike Henry gave me $25,000, but I still didn't know where the rest was going to come from," he said.

Help came from a woman overseas who offered to pay the remainder of money.

"We didn't have any desks or chairs and we had no money to buy them, so my husband I went on YouTube and learned how to make desks. The day when we started registration, we only had the dozen desks that we had made from donations of ply that we got from persons. We ended up with four chairs, but afterwards the MP gave us money to buy 50 chairs," she said.

Sacrifices

Fagan-Williams said the Early Childhood Commission inspected the property and she was given the consent to open. She believes her sacrifices are worth it.

"We invested everything that we had. We went without food and even electricity for a few days. We had to go without gas for weeks and we just bear it all to ensure that the school had what it needed. We love children and we like to work with them," she added.

Currently, she has 36 students and six staff, including her husband, who resigned from his job to help out.

"It has been a tough journey, especially during this pandemic, but this has taught us how to save, how to invest and just how to become our own boss," she said.