51 / 64
T
HOUGH NOT many saw her
potential, for Marcine Witter
failure was not an option.
And it is through her own humble
beginning that Witter was motivated
to help children like herself.
Now a teacher at Lewisville High
School, in St Elizabeth, she is also
currently the grade nine
coordinator, club coordinator and
member of the guidance council
committee. She was recognised for
her service to the development of
the National Secondary Students’
Council body for the academic year
of 2008-2009, and while attending
the University of Technology, she
made the Dean’s list, graduating
with honours.
All these achievements she
received after failing most of her
CXC examinations. In her first
attempt she passed only three out of
the seven subjects she sat. Having
to sit approximately three years out
of school due to this, she knew her
second chance was a gift that she
had to embrace. At 14 years old her
father told her that she would not
achieve more than her sister who
had become pregnant as a teenager
but Witter was determined that this
would not be her story. After being
considered a failure, she picked
herself up and moved on.
She had the support of her mother
who did her best with her limited
resources and recently Witter was
accepted into the South Eastern
Oklahoma State University to
complete Masters Business
Administration.
For Witter, her motivation comes
in the successes of her students. Her
passion for children who
are slow
learners, stemmed from her own
personal loss – her brother. He was
killed by a friend when Witter was
only 16 years old, something she
believed was partially due to his
slow learning. Now being a part of a
new institution and seeing students
enter high school reading at a grade
one level but then being able to pass
their CSEC examinations, there is
no better feeling for her.
While she has a lot of passion for
her job and dedicates a lot of time
to it, she knows the importance of
family. She tries to not bring her
work home spending her downtime
with her family. Witter loves of
seafood, reggae music, travelling
and thoroughly enjoys giving back
through charitable endeavours.
If Witter could leave one advice
to today’s youth, it would be to keep
informed irrespective of educational
background. “Education is the only
viable way out of poverty, and one
should seize all opportunities in
order to be successful,” she added.
THE GLEANER’S FLAIR MAGAZINE • MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018
27
logo
D
istinguished
THE
Education
lives her passion
“Education is
the only viable
way out of
poverty, and
one should
seize all
opportunities
in order to be
successful,”
Marcine Witter