Educators honoured for inspiring excellence as Teachers Week heads to climax

A group of 11 outstanding educators will this week receive the Barbados Union of Teachers’ prestigious Top TIER Awards in recognition of their service, dedication, and impact on students’ lives, as the teaching community marks Teachers’ Week.

The awardees will be officially presented at the President’s Reception on Friday at 7 pm at the BUT Headquarters, Merryhill, Welches, where outstanding educators will receive both the President’s Choice and Top TIER Awards in the climax of Teachers Week, whose theme is “Teachers – The Heart of Educational Transformation”.

This year’s recipients are: Jeffrey Odle (President’s Choice – St Leonard’s Boys’), Bradley Murray (Lester Vaughan School), Ulric Batson (Hilda Skeene Primary), Hugh Griffith (Ignatius Byer Primary), Shamel Edwards (Ministry of Educational Transformation), Sonia Wickham (St Luke’s Brighton Primary), Fabian Massiah (St Leonard’s Boys’), Erika Leacock (The Lodge School), Natasha Agard (St Lucy’s Primary), Brenda Chaplin-Edwards-Drakes (Gordon Greenidge Primary), and Joanne Derrick-Harris (Derrick Smith School and Vocational Centre).

According to BUT Public Relations Officer Cherise Rock, the Top TIER Award highlights teachers who “inspire, encourage and respect” those around them.

“We’re here at the Ministry of Educational Transformation to make a presentation for our first Top TIER teacher for 2025,” Rock said.

“Top TIER stands for a teacher who inspires, encourages, and respects his or her students and colleagues. This year, I have the pleasure of announcing the 11 Top TIER awardees.”

One of those awardees, Shamel Edwards, a peripatetic reading teacher attached to the ministry, said she was touched by the recognition.

“Today I feel so honoured and blessed. I had no idea about this award this morning,” she said. “I do everything with my heart. I’m passionate about reading, I’m passionate about students and helping them achieve their best. Their win is a win for me.”

The St Leonard’s Boys’ School scored a double, including the President’s Choice Award going to Jeffrey Odle, who has served as head of the Industrial Technology Department and is preparing for retirement after more than 40 years in education.

“It’s probably the first time that I’ve been recognised for anything,” Odle said, noting that he especially enjoyed the first 21 years of his work life.

“I’m happy and grateful.”

He said he plans to spend his retirement doing repairs and woodwork at home, adding that he hopes to return to some of the projects he once enjoyed in his personal workshop.Physical Education teacher Fabian Massiah, also of St Leonard’s Boys’, said he was surprised but grateful.

“It is a pleasant surprise, to be honest. Twenty-one years isn’t 21 days,” he said. “I don’t do work for this; every day that I come to work, I do it for the boys. I had opportunities to move on, but I believe my purpose is here.”

Teachers’ Week continues with a Professional Development Workshop on Thursday at Sky Mall Seminar Room entitled AI is Here, and will conclude with Friday’s President’s Reception, where the Top TIER teachers will be formally honoured.

(SM)