Basseterre, St. Kitts: 6 July 2017 – Rotary Club of Liamuiga Teacher Long Service Award 2016/17 recipient is Mrs. Mavis Armstrong, Head of the Department of Guidance & Counselling at Verchilds High School. Her service to the children of St. Kitts spans the period September 1976 to present.
Lacey Adams said “To teach a child is to touch the future”. This is something Mrs. Mavis Armstrong, formerly Mavis Webster, of Saddlers Village has accomplished over her forty-one (41) years of teaching. In fact, she has helped to sculpt the destinies of many in our society and further afield including educators, politicians, doctors and individuals in every sphere of society.
Mrs. Armstrong’s career as a teacher started at the Cayon High School, her Alma Mater, at the tender age of seventeen (17). After a stint of two (2) years in that Institution, she was transferred to the Dieppe Bay Primary School. Her love for children and her desire to impact their lives in a positive way influenced her decision to continue along this career path. As a result, in 1981 she entered the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College where she vigorously pursued Teacher Training Certification. She emerged in 1983 as a Trained Teacher, and continued her service at the Saddlers Primary School. In 1989 she was transferred to the William Connor Primary School in Basseterre, where she served for ten (10) years. During that time, she received certification in Management and Supervision from the University of the West Indies (UWI).
As a Teacher, she observed that there were underlying factors which manifested in students’ failing grades and deviant behaviours. Thus, when a position for Primary School Guidance Counsellor became available, she made the transition. She worked in this capacity for two (2) years before seeking formal training in the field of Psychology at the UWI, St. Augustine Campus, in Trinidad from 2004 to 2006. Upon returning to the Federation, she took up the post of Guidance Counsellor at the Basseterre High School, where she served from 2006 to 2011. She was awarded the prestigious title of Teacher of the Year by the St Kitts Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce in 2009. In 2011, she was transferred to the Verchilds High School, where she is the Head of the Department of Guidance & Counselling.
Mrs. Mavis Armstrong, a born again believer, is also a leader at the Pentecostal Church of God in Saddlers where she serves as the Co-ordinator of Community Outreach and Children’s Ministry. Her passion for the youth has also propelled her to lead a Moms in Prayer Initiative, an international prayer ministry, focusing on children and schools.
Presently, Mrs. Armstrong is pursuing a Certificate in Ministry from the South Western Caribbean School of Theology and a Masters Degree in Christian Counselling at the Newburgh Theological Seminary in the United States.
Mrs. Armstrong holds the firm conviction that there is hope for this generation and that this hope can be found in Jesus Christ.
