When June Swan was 14-years-old she joined Bermuda Deaf Awareness to learn sign language. Now, 34 years later she’s using the technique to help deaf students at CedarBridge Academy as a sign language interpreter - a job she describes as rewarding in countless ways.

June recalls how she started off signing in church and at weddings, before joining the Deaf Ministry where she taught beginners’ classes.

“Then nine years ago I was offered a job with the Department of Education and was encouraged to take it by my sister, who was an interpreter herself,” she says.

June worked with students for six years at the primary level, spent two years in middle school and is currently in her second year at CedarBridge Academy. However, she admits that when she was younger she always thought she would be either a nurse or physical education and language teacher.

“I was not sure which language I wanted to teach at the time and decided to become a sign language interpreter because I felt I needed to do something that I really liked that would fulfil a personal need,” she elaborates.

She currently works with six deaf students and attends classes with them to interpret conversations between them and their teachers as well as those between them and their classmates.

June also attends meetings, assemblies, special activities during school and makes sure the students remain motivated to work.

“I enjoy my job because it really feels good knowing that I was able to help someone out during the day,” she says.

But in the same breath June admits that she also faces various challenges, including getting information before classes to prepare herself for what will be taught that day and making sure her students complete their homework and hand in assignments on time.

As a spiritual person, June says she deals with these challenges with help from God, adding that the only part of her job she dislike is having to complete paperwork: “There’s no time to do it in!”

For those considering a job as a sign language interpreter, June explains that they need to be self-motivated, patient and physically fit and suggests they take all core and encore subjects at school.

Just as important, she adds, is having a broad knowledge of many different subjects and topics and of course must be able to sign and work with the deaf as much as possible.

However sign language interpreters are not solely employed in education, but work in a wide range of areas in both Government and the corporate world.

“Working for a lawyer, an interpreter will need to be educated in law, while working in education, an interpreter needs to have knowledge in almost all subjects,” she adds.

For those interested in learning sign language, June suggests taking a sign language course through one of the community schools which offer classes for both beginners and intermediates.

The mother of one describes the highlight of her work as seeing a student’s face light up when they understand how to do their school work “and they don’t want to stop even after the bell has gone.”

As for the future, this 48-year-old mother hopes to continue working with the deaf wherever she can before retiring.

Teaching with a passion

Oladapo “Dapo” Frederick has two passions in life - teaching and football - and both are equally rewarding in the positive reactions they evoke from his students and the community. He insists that teaching is more than just conveying information to students, it is also about instilling values and cultivating talent.

For the past ten years Dapo has been the social studies resource teacher at Dellwood Middle School as well as head football coach for the school team. In fact, while growing up immersed in the game, he had dreams of becoming a professional football player, but knee injuries forced him to rethink this idea. The 34-year-old says it seemed only logical to become a teacher, having grown up with parents who taught him the value of a good education and who gave him a thirst for knowledge.

With the help of a football scholarship he attended college in the US and returned to Bermuda and became a substitute teacher at the age of 20.

“Once I started to substitute, I knew I could do it. I knew I had a command over this. Everyone has a gift and this is mine,” he says as a broad smile lights up his face.

“It makes me feel good that I’m making a positive difference on the youth,” he adds.

When asked how he feels he does this, Dapo replies that he tries to instil a sense of responsibility in the youngsters who pass through his classroom and this includes teaching them tolerance and love for one another. But he is quick to add that it is not easy being a young black man in Bermuda.

“Your leadership ability is overlooked, but you simply have to push on despite the difficulties,” he affirms.

This is one of the reasons he decided to become a teacher and recalls with obvious emotion how, when he was younger, he did not have any male teachers who understood him. Except for one - Carlos Symonds: “He was a true inspiration to me and made me really want to be a teacher!”

It was Mr. Symonds’ passion for teaching that Dapo carried with him when he started working at Dellwood Middle School.

In fact he is so passionate about teaching that he puts off marking papers in class to spend more time with his students. Doing this, he admits, usurps a great deal of his free time[NOTE]Paget what? Primary?[\NOTE].

But despite the long hours, he says he has found a balance and is at peace with what he does in life.

“I love my job and none of this stresses me out,” he says pointing to some rowdy youngsters pushing and shoving each other through a door. “I have no stress on the job because I know what I’m doing.”

For any student considering a future in teaching, Dapo is eager to share advice and says the one thing you can never have enough of is patience, but more importantly is knowing and loving your subject matter.

“They must be willing to see the victory in disappointment.... When things go wrong, it’s really going good because it’s teaching you to do it better. If you don’t like disappointment, don’t become a teacher!” he warns. He advises students to develop their general knowledge of politics, economics and especially culture - “so that you can relate to the kids” and to be observant of everything around you. Opening a school of his own is one of his dreams, but for now he plans to continue teaching, perhaps travel the world and even write a book or two. Haile Selassie I is his role model and Dapo likes to quote this former Ethiopian emperor: “Education of youth is the surest guarantee of a better future.”

Dedicated to her students’ future<$>

There are almost 200 seniors at CedarBridge Academy who depend on Elizabeth Saunders to give them the best advice - not only for college, but also in dealing with day-to-day issues. Elizabeth is a senior class guidance counsellor at the school and admits that when she started fresh out of college she had “no idea” what she was doing.

Now, years later, the mother of two is comfortable in the educational setting and says she finds the level of energy of the older teenagers “infectious”.

“This is the only job I’ve had. I graduated in sociology, but both my parents have been in education so that was always a big part of our lives.... At one point I tried to avoid being in education because I didn’t like the inevitability of it, but I was given the opportunity to work as a teacher home visitor,” she explains.

As part of this experimental programme which attempted to address social issues as they manifested at schools, Elizabeth says she had no clue what she was doing as she was only a student herself and not much older than some of the students she was trying to help.

But thanks to this opportunity she decided to go to graduate school and become a trained counsellor. Today she addresses the academic needs of students by making sure they stay on track for graduation, stick to their SAT deadlines and helps them with the application process for colleges.

But more importantly, she explains, is helping seniors make the transition from secondary school to tertiary education, or the working environment.

“I also help address the social and psychological issues that are presented and certainly counselling in the sense of having empathy and providing psychological support,” she adds.

Because of the size of the senior class, she spends a great deal of time completing documentation, but admits that she tries to get through this as quickly as possible so that she can spend “creative time” advising students.

“My challenge at the moment is ensuring that the students are taking the courses they need to graduate,” she says, explaining that this can be time-consuming and tedious at times.

“And I have to drop everything when someone comes with an issue. They’re depressed, frightened or their family is in crisis. Everything has to stop so that we can address that, so balancing these things is a challenge,” she says.

Passionate about what she does and sometimes a little hard-headed, she admits to spending a lot of time working evenings, weekends and even spent a week during the past summer catching up.

With this in mind, she warns anyone considering a career as a guidance counsellor to remember that it’s not always a picnic.

Being patient is an important trait in this line of work, she says, as well as being empathetic and having courage and understanding.

“People need to feel safe in your presence, they have to be able to trust you and that you are genuine and you are concerned,” she elaborates.

“You also need to understand as a counsellor in the school system you are an advocate as well, which means you will stand alone sometimes. It takes courage as well to be a counsellor because you are advocating for the kids and knocking heads with authority figures.”

However the rewards are countless and Elizabeth shares how much it means to her when she meets a former student who has made a success of their lives and they in turn thank her for her support: “One former student told me he only trusted two women, his mother and me!” she says with a chuckle. “He says I really helped him not lose faith in himself and to be successful.”

If you are considering becoming a guidance counsellor, Elizabeth recommends you have a well-rounded academic programme, adding that you should take biology and the sciences very seriously: “Science and understanding of brain function is really important and people are beginning to understand how much behaviour is inherited and genetically linked, so it’s not just the liberal arts anymore, science is very important.”

However, Elizabeth believes students should allow themselves to grow and explore the world around them, appreciate the diversity in the world, have an open mind to new experiences and “absolutely go to university”, then she says they will understand what is important to them.