A white teacher who was ostracised for educating blacks, including former Premier Sir John Swan, was yesterday honoured for his contributions to the Island.The late Edwin Skinner, who founded the Howard Academy in 1944, tutored children of all colours from inside a home on Tribe Road #1 in Devonshire.He was heavily criticised and ostracised for taking in black children during the time of racial prejudice, but former students who spoke of Mr Skinner yesterday, recalled a man who was well respected and much loved.Community Group Imagine Bermuda unveiled a plaque outside the home where Mr Skinner began informally teaching two children. His school eventually grew to house 60 young people, before closing due to a lack of funding.After he retired in the early 1950s, Braxton Burgess (a student who served as a junior teacher) and then Edward Dejean, took over the running of the school.Yesterday’s ceremony was a part of an on-going campaign by Imagine Bermuda to honour homes around the Island of significant historic value.Glenn Fubler, coordinator for the group, said: “We want to encourage everyone to recognise that every home can make a difference for the upcoming generations.“I can make some kind of contribution, each of us can, in terms of how we treat our families or get involved in the wider community.”Past students of Howard Academy included former Premier Sir John, former union boss Ottiwell Simmons and shipwright Raymond DeShields, who helped to build the Deliverance.Roosevelt Brown, who was a key person in getting black people the right to vote in Bermuda, was also an alumni of the school.According to Sir John, Howard Academy “offered something very special” and all students had a special bond.He recalled that his relationship with Mr Simmons helped them to resolve the country’s strife in 1981.Sir John said the school instilled a sense of respect in all its students and encouraged them to be “smart” even if they were not genetically bright.He admitted he was unable to read until aged 12, because of dyslexia and eyesight problems, but went on to become a successful businessman and politician because of Mr Skinner’s school.“Everybody I know over at Howard Academy somehow or another they all had a purpose. What is it about this man that gave us a purpose? We knew in our hearts he was making a sacrifice to help us.”Sir John said his former teacher “was prepared to embrace us without colour barriers”; and said as he went on to university in the US, he didn’t let prejudices handicap him.Former student Kenneth C Daniels said: “When [Mr Skinner] first started to teach black people he did a very courageous thing because he did catch some hell. But he stepped to the wicket because he believed he was doing the right thing.“I think it was the first time I was taught by a white person and I enjoyed it. There was no colour problem with him, he saw you as a man.”Speaking to The Royal Gazette Mr Daniels said education for people of colour was limited in those days and white people tended to get the best schools.More than a dozen other past students turned out for the plaque unveiling yesterday, including members of Mr Skinner’s family.Grandson Alan Skinner said he enjoyed the event and added: “Very few of us alive really knew him and it is because of these stories we now know him.”Useful website: http://imaginebermuda.org/