Fêted, loved and appreciated!
School ancillary staff celebrated at special Mother’s Day dinner
Published:Sunday | May 12, 2024 | 5:44 AMCorey Robinson - Senior Staff Reporter
They were fêted, appreciated, and loved, and for most of them, the feeling was unusual. In fact, it’s quite rare for school security guards and ancillary staff, “the real heroes on the ground”, to be treated with such regard – and for some, it brought tears to their eyes.
That it was also a Mother’s Day celebration, and that most of them were mothers, or had lost their mothers, was another tearjerker. It made the annual Selva Wilson Mother’s Day dinner, put on by the James and Friends Foundation in Clarendon last Friday, even more emotional.
The idea has been a hit for the last four years, a special “thank you” to the unsung heroes, named in honour of the owner of Stoplight Wholesale, Junior Wilson’s deceased mother.
From the elderly to the homeless, and grieving staff at the Beulah All-Age School, who in 2022 lost two of their students to Coco Piece killer Rushane Barnett, all have benefited.
This year, 30 workers from six primary and preparatory schools in Clarendon were recognised at the ‘Taste to Di Bone’ Seafood Restaurant in May Pen. Some of the guests said they have never been so recognised in their lives.
On Friday, Marsha Gaynor, security guard at Central High School in the parish, was most emotional. This Mother’s Day marks one year since her mother lost a battle with cancer, and, for Gaynor, the day threatens to be terrifying.
Friday’s dinner was supposed to be her happy space leading up to today, which she planned to spend in isolation. As she joked among colleagues, reality set in and her tears tumbled.
“I told myself I don’t plan to go out on that day, and probably I will just lock myself in my room, watch TV, and whatever happens, happens,” offered Gaynor, her strong voice whimpering as she spoke. “But I don’t know how I am going to manage it. Even though it is one year, it seems like only yesterday.”
Mixture of
tears and sweat
She wiped a mixture of tears and sweat from her face.
“If I could say one thing to her on Mother’s Day it is that her granddaughter finally made it into college. That’s what I would tell her, and that I love and miss her,” Gaynor said between gasps for air. She recalled how her mother took care of her eldest child after she got pregnant in high school, dropped out, and had to find work. Hours after her mother died, Gaynor said her daughter found out she had been accepted to the University of Technology (UTech).
Beverly Whyte, a janitor at Central High School for 26 years, is living a similar reality. Her mother died in 1988 and her memory still brings tears. More tears flowed as she reminisced on her daughter who died in 2017, leaving behind her grandson who now lives with his father. Whyte has dedicated her life to helping to support and care for the child.
For her, that dedication includes sweeping classrooms and mopping up faeces and urine in the bathrooms on the grade-seven block. It’s arduous work, especially psychologically, but with gloves and mask, Whyte has dug in for more than two decades. She talks about it gleefully.
“I love my job because I chose it. Sometimes it is rough but, then again, God has made me do that challenge and I enjoy it. The roughest time is when there is no water, not in the bathroom!” she said, her playful countenance switching to seriousness. “Sometimes when no water is there to clean the male bathroom I just feel like giving up because it means that you are going to have to catch and carry the water in a bucket. But then I just say ‘it’s my job’.”
It is the business side of things that keeps Natoya Thomas, a tuck shop attendant dedicated for several years at Central High; while Marva Reid, a school cook, said nothing brings more joy to her than serving freshly cooked, nutritious meals to students, particularly those who can’t afford it. Their feeling of purpose was shared by Mineral Heights Preparatory security guard Kerrian Morgan-Dyght, chefs Petrian Lowe Ricketts and Lesa Knight; and Sherrice Ranger, an auxiliary staff member at the school.”
Biblical perspective
“As mothers, we ought to go back to the biblical perspective of being mothers. The Bible says you should grow up a child in the way that he should grow and he will not depart. Spare the rod and spoil the child. We must grow our children with the fear and love of God. Most children are not grown to love and fear God and that is why there are a lot of things happening in this world that we just can’t stop,” offered Morgan-Dyght.
Junior Wilson, a senior partner of the James and Friends Foundation, a charity entity that assists some 300 children with school supplies and expenses in the area, said the initiative was his way of paying homage to his mother and all mothers whom he considers gems.
“My mother passed away over 30 years ago, so I just thought it was a great thing in memory of my mother. So, as the years went by, we took it more seriously. Each year we do something different to let the mothers feel special. For those who have a mother you just have to cherish them. I am a father but I think mothers are special,” said Wilson.