My sister, my first teacher
I was told that it started after I was born. The almost decade that separates us made a difference for a nine-year-old boy who already had an older brother, a younger brother, and a younger sister. The age difference wasn’t great enough for her to take on the same role with them that she did with me.
I was her baby doll in real life. Thanks to her, he was walking at nine months and could use the toilet at twelve months. She knew from an early age that she wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. Naturally, I became her first student. I have been told that she took care of most of my needs. She carried me on her hip as if she were my Mother. Actually, we call our mom, Mother, but I called her, Mom.
Yes, my older sister, Janet, was my second mother, but my most memorable teacher. Her classroom was our home. She taught me to read and write when I was three years old. Being fascinated by comics, she initially used them as her textbook. She realized that I ‘read the images’ and made up stories about what I saw. My first teacher found in me a suitable student and did not look back.
I remember her going to college to become a ‘real’ teacher. Our parents couldn’t afford to send her to a four-year college right away; she therefore attended a community college in a nearby town. She met all the requirements to graduate, but due to racial bias, there was a “mix-up” with her grades and she was not allowed to graduate with her class. She would have been the first African American to do it at this community college and that was not going to happen. Mysteriously, this was cleared up after the graduation ceremony was held and she received her associate’s degree from her.
There was no stopping, Janet. She earned a BA in English from Bethune-Cookman College (now University). To my delight, she came home every weekend. She was still her student. She made sure that she was reading everything that she could find. I remember she wanted to read Rosemary’s Baby, but she wouldn’t let me. I haven’t read it to this day. She said it was inappropriate at my age, about 12 years old, and I took her word for it.
My sister, my teacher, was now an adult and ventured out into the world to make a difference. Her first job was as a reading teacher at the high school our little sister attended. Watch out world! She has a classroom! Janet was (and still is) tough and demanded a lot from her students. She was in that job, but a year before a heartthrob blew her away.
They got married and she moved to Savannah, Georgia. She there she continued to work as a teacher. She became a mother and the family soon moved to South Florida. Her marriage ended in divorce and my sister, my teacher, became a single mother.
She re-enrolled in college and earned a master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling. She worked full time as a teacher in Broward County Schools while working on her master’s degree. Her son was sent to a private school during the day and to the ghetto nursery after school. Many times she would take him to the babysitter’s house in her pajamas and pick him up after school at night, in those same pajamas. That family would take him to school and daycare after school.
Janet became a guidance counselor at Coral Springs High School. She is an outstanding educator. She was promoted to Dean of Students (Assistant Principal) at Piper High School due to her outstanding performance. Her students loved her. Her parents respect her. Disciplinary actions were accepted with a “thank you” from them to her, even if the students were suspended. They knew that she loved them, cared for them and was fair to them.
By the time she became director, she had earned a Management and Supervision Specialist degree by attending evening and weekend classes. Her son dropped out of private school and attended high school where she was principal. Most of the students called her “Ma” just like him. If there were any gang-related disturbances at the school, they would come to her office to make sure she was safe.
Knowing that her son would soon be going to college, she participated in the Florida Tuition Voucher Program to finance his education. Wanting to reach the academic pinnacle of her profession, Janet earned a Doctorate in Education and my sister, my first teacher, became H. Janet Ward, Ed.D.
Educators are not in education because of the pay rate. As many as Janet, were born to be educators. It’s in their blood and they love it.
Dr. H. Janet Ward-McMillon has lived her life’s purpose for nearly 35 years. She will retire at the end of this school term. There have been many meetings to persuade her to participate in the Florida Drop Program for another five years. She has refused. She has found another way to continue her vocation as a teacher but on a spiritual level. She participates in a Prison Ministry for women and in an Assistance Home for older adults. She will always be a teacher at heart. Her message will be different.
Janet has been the most influential teacher, aside from my parents, in my life. She taught me from the classroom at home as a child and from the classroom of life as a teenager and adult. She taught me how to read, write, arithmetic and what it means to persevere. As a single parent, employee, or student; she never complained or asked for help.
Dr. H. Janet Ward-McMillon is a distinguished educator who is appreciated and respected not only by her family but also by the thousands of lives she has helped shape as an educator over the past thirty-five years. We are proud to announce her as Lifetime Teacher of the Year!
Copyright ©2007 by Avis Ward of AWard Consulting, LLC
