Service, Generosity, and Grace: three words used in regards to former educator Deanna Encalada Nisbet. It's also the name of the new book, detailing the story of her life, and her career. Nisbet has always maintained that respect and compassion are key elements in educating students, and her advice, life lessons, and experiences were catalogued and published by Canadian author, Jeanette Winsor.
The book was launched this morning at the Leo Bradley Library, and Winsor explained that once she heard Nisbet's stories, she knew they had to be published. We spoke to her and Nisbet's son in law, education minister Francis Fonseca:
Jeanette Winsor, Author
"She told me about her being a young girl in a country that was very poor and I think this is where I really caught the need to write her story and how she went off to the United States to a very prestigious university, college it was at that time, and I couldn't believe how she could've gotten there, and just such a wonderful adventure she had and of course there were many very sad stories as well and obstacles she had to overcome and in doing so, it just showed a young lady, who was very strong, who became a very strong woman, and who in the end passed it on to four more very strong women, and of course, I'm sure there are many women in Belize who today can look back say, Deanna Nisbet helped me through so many things."
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"I think it's absolutely very very important for us to document life lessons from our elders, especially those who have contributed in such a positive way to education, to the development of our country, so I think it's absolutely a very positive experience today. I read the book which is an amazing story of a life of positive impact driven by education at every step of her journey so it's a great pleasure to be a part of this today."
"I think as Mrs Nisbet has said, respect is very important, I think that has been the theme of her life, respecting everyone, respecting her students, and as she herself has said, never giving up on students, always understanding and appreciating that student learn in different ways, students learn at a different pace, so it's very important for us in the education system and teachers in particular to understand and appreciate that every student may be different."
And Nisbet explained that the book was a brain child of one of her grandsons, who had first suggested that her life be made into a book. While at first, she never expected it to become a reality, she told us today that she's grateful for the opportunity.
Deanna Nisbet, Educator
"It feels very special, it was something I really never imagined and really primarily I did it for my grandchildren and future other children if I should have, other grandchildren, great grandchildren. It is really the work of Mrs Jeanette Winsor who is an excellent author, it gave me an opportunity as I said to reflect on what I have done, because I am very grateful for having been in education and having learned and met so many Belizeans that have contributed so much to this country, including as you have seen, Mr Fonseca, I also taught the prime minister and many other, and I feel proud to be able to say I was a little part of their lives."
"I believe very firmly and as I said that respect goes a long way, you and me, you and me, anyone, and I do believe that in this day and age, as much as I hate to admit it, we have lost some of that respect and I often tell my grandchildren that that will get you places, in my opinion."
"I remember when I was teaching high school, I remember a student getting demerits for many things, and I said to the teacher, why are you giving him so many demerits? She said, well, because he doesn't do his homework, then one day I took the liberty of asking the student, why don't you do your homework? He said, miss, I have no light at home, I can't see at night. And that brought me to my senses and said, we are all different and there's hope for everything. At which point, I suggested to him to stay after school, do it in the library, but you can't just put a stigma on students and my philosophy is if I go into a classroom and you tell me, that's a bad student, you can't tell me that, I need to find that our for myself."
"And actually, I cannot tell you I encountered a bad student, bad situations yes, but not bad students. I think that we, I'm not an educator anymore, but we are there in front of these children, we are the role models, what you say, what you do, the way you move, affects every child and you can asked the people I worked with that I may have been a very strict person but I think it made a difference and I think that the students respected that."
The book is available for purchase on Amazon.
