Dynamite comes in small packages.

That is how one former student summed up the mathematics and religious knowledge teacher of his senior school years.

Small of stature she might have been, but when Mrs. Alice Jones entered the classroom at Warwick Academy, respect -- and silence -- reigned.

Naughty boys and giggling girls became instant angels for as long as her lessons lasted. Attention had better be riveted on the dynamic dynamo at the blackboard or else.

"Mrs. Jones ruled by the power of respect. You wouldn't think of being disrespectful, or not paying attention or being alert,'' Government nutritionist Mrs. Betsy Baille remembered.

"I'm not sure why we had so much respect for her,'' her brother, veterinarian Dr. Thomas James, mused. "I think it was because she had high expectations for us, and we didn't want to let her down. She was a very good and effective teacher.'' Indeed, woe betide the student who came ill prepared, or who hadn't completed a homework assignment. "I remember we had to learn the Acts of the Apostles,'' Mrs. Baillie said. "You could be sure that if you hadn't learned your section it was written all over your face, and Mrs. Jones would call on you to recite it.'' Businessman Mr. William (Billy) Ferguson concurred.

"She made us learn the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount, and if you didn't know them, boy you got your knuckles rapped (metaphorically speaking).

Even though we were in our senior years she came down very severely on you if you hadn't done your homework.'' Nor would she brook any cheekiness. Mr. Ferguson remembers one strapping senior student whom Mrs. Jones hauled off to the headmaster's office quite literally by his ear! He was by no means the first or even the last. "I think a lot of us used to think she was a tartar and a terror, but in truth she was an excellent teacher,'' Mr. Ferguson said. "At that age we didn't appreciate it, of course, but after you grew up and went out into the world you realised the good she did us, and the discipline she gave us.'' To a bunch of teenagers more fixated on the all-important, first motorised cycle, religious knowledge was not a top priority. Yet Mrs. Jones was able to rivet their attention simply by her teaching style.

"She made the gospel of St. Matthew come alive for me. She made it so vivid that when you read it, it was as if you were right there with Jesus,'' Mr.

Ferguson remembered.

"I have nothing but the fondest memories of her -- of this very beautiful little lady with snow white hair who was always so gentle,'' said advertising executive Mr. John White. "I don't remember her ever getting mad at me, or raising her voice. Nor do I remember her ever giving me a hard time, or being grumpy or grouchy. Maybe I behaved myself so she wouldn't think ill of me!'' Another fan is paediatrician Dr. Peter Perinchief, who remembers her as "a very solid, warm human being, and a wonderful mathematics teacher''.

"She taught me various concepts of mathematics which I have passed on to my children, who have also found them very useful,'' he said.

Like others, however, Dr. Perinchief was not oblivious to her no-nonsense approach.

"I have never seen one so small who was able to engender such fear in large, teenaged males,'' he admitted. "She had an aura about her which radiated authority.'' However her students remember her, Mrs. Jones makes no apologies for her style of teaching, nor should she, for she can proudly point to a long list of professional men and women -- bankers, doctors, veterinarians, interior designers, and advertising executives among them -- whose lives she helped shape.

"I was strict but fair, and had no trouble in my classes,'' she said firmly -- a statement many of today's teachers might envy.

Born in New Jersey, USA, on October 27, 1894, Alice Oglee apparently arrived in this world with the requisite genes to carry on the family tradition of education.

The daughter of school teachers, young Alice would herself grow up to become a teacher and school principal before she was 30. In time she would pass on the genes to her daughter, who worked for the School District in Maine, and grandson David, who today owns a tutoring service.

Mrs. Jones' arrival in Bermuda at age 30 came after a year-long courtship which started during a Bermuda vacation.

At age 29, Alice arrived here with two friends for a week-long holiday at the Belmont Hotel.

The young women had nothing but on their minds but fun in the sun as they set out to explore the lush little island where horses clip-clopped about all day and the soft swoosh of bicycle tyres on the coral roads was eclipsed by the sound of cicadas celebrating summer in the plentiful cedars.

One day, the trio made their way to the top of Gibbs Hill lighthouse. Although the views were spectacular, Alice grew bored.

"I got tired of walking around the top, so I left my friends and came down, where I met two men. It turned out one of them had a cousin who was married to a girl from the same town where I lived. Her parents, the Wittridges, had moved to Bermuda and their daughter was married to this man's cousin,'' Mrs.

Jones recalled.

Thus did Charles Hamilton Jones begin his courtship of young Alice Oglee.

"He came to the Belmont to see me every night I was there,'' Mrs. Jones remembered. "It was love at first sight for him. I took a little longer!'' Later, the smitten Bermudian travelled to the US to continue pursuit of the woman who would ultimately become his wife.

"Before he left I had an engagement ring, and we were married the following year (1924) at my home in East Rutherford, New Jersey,'' Mrs. Jones said proudly. To this day, she cherishes a cedar box her suitor also gave her on that trip.

In Bermuda, her husband operated a carriage and cycle livery, as well as a gift shop, near the former Inverurie Hotel in Paget. His wife would make ordering stock for the shop her responsibility. In time, she would also bear him two children, Dorothy and Charles Jr.

In 1941, with a shortage of teachers caused by men going off to war, Alice Jones answered the call to fill a gap at Warwick Academy, where she taught algebra, geometry, arithmetic and religious knowledge.

It would be 20 years before she would retire -- the first time. In all she would be called back and retire three times: in 1961, 1963 and 1965! At one stage, her son was in her class. Any suggestions of favouritism, however, are quickly dismissed.

"It was no different teaching him than anyone else. He was just of the students,'' Mrs. Jones assured.

In 1943, after just 19 years of marriage and with the Second World War still raging, Charles Jones died, leaving his widow to raise their two children, then aged 15 and six, alone. Grief-stricken as she was, the gutsiness that still propels this remarkable centenarian sustained and carried her forward.

She simply got on with life, and made sure her family did too.

She travelled by bicycle, as did her children; she raised vegetables as well as flowers in the family garden; she taught school, kept up friendships, baked, became an active participant in local musical circles, and also played bridge.

Remarkable to others, perhaps, but nothing out of the ordinary to Mrs. Jones.

"You just did it,'' she said of those difficult years.

Indeed, beyond this brief synopsis, one discovers there is much more to this remarkable woman's 100 years of life.

An avid reader, Alice Jones instilled the same love of literature in her children, but was also not above enjoying popular women's magazines.

Her love of music was reflected in her early and long membership in the Bermuda Philharmonic Society, where she sang alto in its choir.

A committed Christian, Mrs. Jones was a member of Christ Church, Warwick choir for more 30 years, and also played piano for the Sunday School. In addition, she taught a class of teenaged boys, and was active in the women's guild.

For years she served in the Warwick branch of the Bermuda Welfare Society. Her kitchen was always redolent with the smells of baking, and her cooking reflected her taste in "good, simple food''.

Eighty-three before she gave up driving her car, Mrs. Jones laughs at the irony of using it in later years to take seniors on outings. "I was older than all of them!'' she said.

Also while in her 80s, she visited her son Charles, then working in Tokyo, three times.

Despite the limitations longevity have placed upon her, Alice Jones still gets on with life. She goes to church every Sunday, and plays bridge twice a week.

Not unnaturally, her vision and hearing are not as sharp as they once were, and she uses a walker to get about safely. Mentally, she remains as sharp as a tack, remembering facts and figures with amazing ease.

Selective in her television viewing, she particularly enjoys the game shows -- "the prizes are wonderful'' -- as well as the Lawrence Welk Show and nightly newscasts.

From her easy chair, she cues her tape recorder to play selections from the many cassettes filled with her favourite music.

"I particularly like Lawrence Welk and that sort of music, as well as some of Handel's music,'' she said of her eclectic tastes.

She keeps abreast of what is happening in society, and describes the need to teach primary school children about drugs as "awful''. She disagrees with sex education for students, saying "It cheapens everything. Sex should be a private matter''.

Mrs. Jones' day begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 10 p.m. Her daughter Dorothy and friend Mrs. Mary Doughty, who live with her, see to it that she is well cared for, and Shadow the cat provides the sort of unconditional companionship felines are famous for.

In a rare and well-deserved departure from her regular routine, Mrs. Jones will be feted by friends, family, and former students for the rest of this week -- something she is eagerly looking forward to.

When she turns 100 tomorrow, it will be in the company of friends at a tea catered by the Guild of Christ Church, Warwick. On Friday, there will be a family luncheon at Stonington Beach Hotel, and on Saturday, the Warwick Academy alumni will honour her with a reception at the school.

Hopefully, she will also receive a congratulatory telegram from the Queen. And to what does Mrs. Jones attribute her remarkable longevity? "God has been very good to me. I'm very lucky,'' is her answer.

100 NOT OUT! Former Warwick Academy teacher Mrs. Alice Jones.

Photo courtesy of The Bermudian magazine.