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by pltm
(PLTM) - Fifty-one years ago, a 21 year-old pre-school teacher, Daisy Simmonds, invited a few children to join the private lessons she gave her daughter at home.
"I decided to teach my own children at home. My first daughter did very well. But I thought the second one would have learned better with her friends around, so I invited them to join the lessons," said Mrs. Simmonds (affectionately called Miss Daisy), as she reminisced on the single event that started Simmonds Pre-School Ltd.
Located in the community of Lower Estate, Road Town, Simmonds Pre-School is housed in a two-storey building that sits on grassy land, big enough for the children—baby to five years old, to play.
The school, regarded as a prestigious institution, is known for producing great local stalwarts over the years. One such person is current Cabinet Secretary, Sandra Ward.
Before Hurricane Irma, the school boasted an enrollment of 92 students and 11 teachers, including 77 year-old Miss Daisy, who doesn't plan to slow down any time soon.
"I love teaching children, I love my job. I wish Saturday and Sunday don't come. It keeps me going you know," said Miss Daisy, who has only six children of her own, but has taught and mothered hundreds over five decades.
At 77 years old, Miss Daisy is full of passion and still plays an active role in the daily happenings at the school. She passed the baton of leadership to one of her daughters, who now serves as principal, but admits she still educates and makes teaching materials with her hands, just as she did in the olden days.
"I rarely buy teaching aids for the children. If you look inside you will see all the teaching aids I made with my hands. People come here and say I didn't make them myself, but I did," said Miss Daisy, as she pointed to a small room which she said is full of original materials she made herself.
"When the slow children come here, I always tell the teachers to leave them to me. I say 'I will teach them, I will pull them up', because I believe every child has potential. After I teach them, those children become so good, sometimes people can't believe it's the same ones who were slow before," Miss Daisy expressed, as she showed BVI Platinum News one of her neat hand-made charts.
"I have never stopped a child from school because the parents can't afford to pay. Once I know of their situation, I tell them to let the children come. Sometimes I say, 'can I pay the fees for you?' Then I pay it for them and give them a receipt," Miss Daisy said.
Others who spoke to our news team lauded Miss Daisy as the consummate educator and mother, saying she has built one of the most trusted programmes for beginners in the Lower Estate area.
"I was called for this purpose. I am called to deal with children, help people and be my brother's keeper. I am supposed to take care of everybody that is in need as long as I have. It doesn’t bother me, praise God!" Miss Daisy said as she closed her eyes and raised a tightly clenched fist above her head.
