TEOLA LINTON
And to this day I strive for nothing but the best.”
Linton completed her level one training in early childhood education while she taught at Gemglow Kindergarten in Spanish Town. After teaching there for several years, she moved on to become a grade one teacher at Smith’s Better Learning Preparatory school, and completed her level two training at the HEART Old Harbour Vocational Training Centre.
“My lecturer there at HEART encouraged me to go to teacher’s college, because of the quality of work that I was producing, so I did just that,” she said triumphantly.
After studying for seven years at The Mico University College, Linton graduated with her bachelor’s degree in 2014. She considers those seven years to be her ‘training ground’ as she was simultaneously being challenged in her job at Solid Base Group of
Schools.
“I was awarded teacher of the year twice, and was promoted to senior teacher, and that’s where I really got my training where leadership is concerned,” she said gratefully. “I was at the forefront of event planning and overseeing teachers and students. I remember one term I was under a lot of pressure, because I had to vet everybody’s test papers in addition to doing my own. I said to my significant other at the time that I was under a lot of pressure, and he said to me, ‘You are in training. The Lord is allowing you to be in this position because you’ve always wanted to have your own school. This is your training ground’ so I looked at it in a different light, and I embraced it even though it was pressuring.”
This training proved useful in the last five years, as her group of schools grew from strength to strength. She now has over 100 students enrolled, and in 2019 she celebrated with her first batch of primary-level graduates.
“We got all traditional high school passes,” she beamed. “That group was very special to me, because not only were they our first batch, but it was also the first year of Primary Exit Profile, so we were very anxious about how they would perform. We had our first graduation ceremony and it was a very emotional day for me.”
Linton is also very proud of her students with special needs, who have been an integral part of the academy since its inception.
“Most of our ‘gifted hands’ students are mildly autistic, but we’ve also had students with
Down syndrome and cerebral palsy,” she explained. “I knew it was important to have this department because our public school system is not adequately equipped to deal with these students, and many of them are left at home and isolated. I knew within myself that every child has the right to a good education, so I prayed about it. I started out with about nine special needs students, and two of them have graduated and gone on to Windsor School of Special Education to learn a skill. Some have also improved and been integrated into the regular streams.”
In addition to the existing kindergarten, preparatory and special needs schools, Linton hopes to soon be able to add a high school to her campus, and eventually a tertiary level institution. The school principal is once again in training mode, as she is now pursuing a master’s programme and lecturing parttime at the International University of the Caribbean’s Denbigh campus.
“I am also being encouraged by people around me to go for my doctorate, so I am also looking at that aspect of life,” she said confidently. “I want to have the best of everything: The best education, the best job, the best husband, the best of everything. I am intrinsically motivated and I don’t procrastinate. If I have to get something done, I will get it done.
Now 37 years old, Linton chuckled as she mused that the Lord is still putting her husbandand-children package together. While she waits, she spends her time preparing her home.
“I am a housewife. I am fussy about my home. I am a neat person and I like things in order. After a hard day of work I love coming home to a beautiful home,” she said.
“I am a singer as well, because my family is musically inclined, so music also plays a vital part in my life.”
More than anything, however, she enjoys giving her best in service to others.
“I am a giving person,” she said simply. “I don’t have to know you to give to you or help you. Whether it’s a word of encouragement, a joke, or folding up something in your hand and giving it to you, I believe in sowing in people’s lives. There is more blessing in giving than receiving. I believe that I’ve been given a gift from God, and it’s a giving one. I just want to keep giving.”
the application to the company in writing for your full statement of account.
Since it seems that the aggregate interest has not only reached but has surpassed the sum actually lent to you, and taking into account what you had paid is four times what they are now claiming, you must go to the parish court and file your application for an account from the company and that you be relieved of any further liability for the continuing claim being made by the company about your loan. Also remember if they added charges for the negotiations and granting of the loan, to add your claim for repayment of that.
Also, you should ask that the costs of your application be paid by the company to you, so that the judge can consider exercising their discretion in your favour in this regard.
Remember, if the company fails to provide you with your statement which I suggested pursuant to the Act, you can ask the judge to order them to provide it to you before the hearing of your matter commences. It is something that the Act says you are entitled to have and if the officers try to be creative about its contents rather than provide a true statement, it is an offence.
I also suggest that you obtain the services of a good commercial lawyer to assist you with your claim. Yes, it will cost you initially, but with expert help you ought to succeed in your claim. From your letter I am certain the company is not one which the minister has exempted from the provisions of the Act, and your chances of success on the face of the figures you mentioned, are high, with a good commercial lawyer acting for you.
I wish you the best of luck and that you take the steps to free yourself from the yoke, and that you have learned a lesson to keep away from such businesses if you ever need another loan in your lifetime.
Margarette May Macaulay is an attorney-atlaw, Supreme Court mediator, notary public, and women’s and children’s rights advocate. Send questions via e-mail to allwoman@ jamaicaobserver.com; or write to All Woman, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5. All responses are published. Mrs Macaulay cannot provide personal responses.
DISCLAIMER:
The contents of this article are for informational purposes only, and must not be relied upon as an alternative to legal advice from your own attorney.
sneaked into my house once, and the fear that I have of him, I had to spend a lot of money getting security cameras for my home, and taking self-defence lessons in case things ever get physical. He also cost me several futile trips to the police station, and a good amount of happiness, because even though it happened two years ago, and I have not seen him since, I am still very paranoid and afraid to be alone.
YD, 28, nurse:
I had to change doctors because my family physician is a creep. He was always very friendly since I was going to do my medicals in high school, but one time in sixth form I went to see him for a persistent headache, and he insisted on doing a full body exam, even though I felt fine. Something about the way his hand lingered in certain places just didn’t sit well with me, so I have since changed doctors. This cost more because of where I live, and my new doctor is way more expensive.
SK, 35, teacher:
I had to move, not because of one creep, but several. I lived alone at the time, and my house literally attracted every creep within a 10-mile radius. From creepy taxi men who dropped me home, to delivery men, to neighbours, to a man from the HR department at work who took my address from my file and turned up at my house uninvited. Eventually I got so frustrated and afraid that I moved into an apartment complex that has security. This has cost me so much I can’t even begin to calculate it.
instead, emphasis should be placed on his character, even as she acknowledged that financial needs are real.
Reid chimed in: “Provision includes, but goes beyond, finances…and it is more about filling in the gaps that exist in each other’s lives”.
Chin Mitchell cautioned, however, that a one-dimensional view of provision can negatively impact men having healthy relationships with partners and others.
The lively discussion also saw the women sharing other solid relationship pointers, such as underscoring the importance of clear communication, while challenging individuals to reframe and examine their negative mindsets in a bid to enjoy healthier, happier relationships and to set their own expectations based on the uniqueness of their relationships.
The virtual event was a part of a special month-long edition of the JMMB Goal Getter Live series, which runs until the end of September.