Mom’s sacrifices spur educator daughters to excel

As Shaneika Davidson Francis stood anxiously waiting to hear who would be named LASCO Teacher of the Year, one woman in the crowd could not contain her excitement.

"I am the mommy!" her mother Cynthia Ellis Tucker shouted proudly.

Moments later, her daughter's name was called as first runner-up, while the top honour went to Dorette Rhoden Henry, a mathematics and information technology teacher at deCarteret College.

The emotional outburst inside The Jamaica Pegasus hotel on Wednesday encapsulated years of sacrifice, struggle and determination that shaped not just one educator, but an entire family.

"I am elated and so humbled to be given this prestigious title, even though I did not make it as the winner, but I am first runner-up and I am grateful because it has been a tremendous journey for me, and to be recognised in this manner, I am grateful," said Davidson Francis, who said she has been an educator for approximately 14 years.

"The journey has been challenging in different ways, but I enjoy every minute of it. Going to school on a daily basis is literally a rough journey. I reside in Montego Bay, and my school is all the way in the hills of Hanover, in Clifton, a small district, rough and rocky roads. But I get up every day and I am early for work, even though it can be draining but I have to do what I have to do at that school to ensure that those children are well kept," said Davidson Francis, who teaches at Clifton Primary and Infant School.

Her journey into teaching was inspired by her older sister, Tina Anderson, an acting vice-principal at Buff Bay High School, who continues to be one of her biggest supporters.

"She's my motivator and the one that actually named me. She's the one that pushed me to be in this profession because she was a teacher first. The nights were rough I must admit, but together we pulled through. Our mom was in our backbone, ensuring that we are successful young ladies and that we are. So we are indeed grateful for her and we are grateful for her journey," Davidson Francis said.

Anderson said watching her younger sister rise through the ranks of the profession filled her with pride.

"To see her among the best, it feels like I am doing something good. She says that I am her motivator, her role model, and so that brings tears to my eyes today to see her at the top in this competition," she said.

But at the heart of their story is Ellis Tucker, whose sacrifices laid the foundation for their success.

"Words cannot say how happy I am to be here and to witness this achievement. It's a milestone for all of us, not only Shaneika. We have been coming from a very far journey. My daughter, she works hard so I believe she deserved this," Ellis Tucker said.

She recounted the hardships that defined their journey, including losing Davidson Francis' father at a crucial time.

"The Sunday when it was her father's funeral, that's when she was to start St Joseph's College. The administration gave us just one day for her to attend her father's funeral, and then the Monday she had to go in," she recalled.

"The struggle was real for me as a single parent to do a two people job. I lost their father when all of them were stepping up, each basically a grade or two from the other."

A small grocery shop that she operated paid for the bills and her children's schooling. After the shop folded, she raised a few chickens.

"But at one point, when financial difficulties reach me, I had to pack up and leave my home for three years and move into a residential home to take care of an elder. God gave me the strength and made it work," she said. To assist her daughters with their studies, Ellis Tucker walked in the community picking up various items for them to make creative things for their assessments.

"Sometimes when you come in my house, it look like a garbage heap. There were nights that they literally cried on the floor saying 'Mommy mi nah go make it' and fall asleep same place. I had to be encouraging them and give them tea or biscuits to try and make them comfortable and they teach me how to help them," she said. "Now I have a family of educators because my husband is a retired principal."