Spanish Town: HUMILITY IS STRENGTH and perhaps no one believes this more than Iris Lewis, principal of the Crescent Primary School in St. Catherine.Lewis, who was born in Luck Hill, St. Catherine, is the second of five children for father Wesley Daley, a farmer and mother Irene Samuels, a vendor. Her parents knew from early what she wanted to do. "I always wanted to be a teacher as whilst at Grateful Hill Primary I used to take over the class while my teacher was out. She would ask me to do this," Lewis recalls. The young Lewis moved to Brainered All Age school and upon leaving enrolled at Glengoffe Secondary School from where she graduated in 1978 with several subjects. She continue to fulfill her early dream by applying to St. Joseph's Teacher College where she was accepted and graduated in 1982 with a trained teacher's certificate. She did her internship at the Holy Primary School in Kingston.
Yearning for knowledge
Following this it was back to her alma mater Glengoffe Secondary, where she taught for four months until December 1982, before going to teach at the Tavares Garden Primary in St. Andrew in 1983. She stayed at this school for eight years after which she was sent to Crescent Primary, then All- Age.
Her yearning for knowledge found her going to the UWI where she completed her bachelor's degree in management studies and a minor in sociology. She is currently pursuing her master's degree in educational leadership at central Connecticut State University in the USA. Lewis says her job at Crescent Primary was made easier by a good cadre of staff members including two vice-principals.
Lewis, who has been teaching for the past 25 years, says the profession has changed greatly as children today can be very abusive. This she says is a reflection of the society. Lewis' inspiration comes from Mr. Donald Howell, one of her former teachers at Glengoffe Secondary. "He would go the extra mile for his students and that's why I am here to continue that tradition," she says. "More over the feeling you get when someone say 'Miss do you remember is you teach me?',no feeling come close. It's very rewarding. I will continue (to teach) as long as I am able."
Besides teaching, Lewis is a scout assistant commissioner, secretary of the Love Brethren in Christ Church in Eltham, St. Catherine, and is married with four children. She is also Secretary of the East St. Catherine principals' association.
