By: Hafsatu Z Bangura
Mrs Ophelia Morenikeh Morrison is a school leader with a passion for academic and student development and a history of success in developing effective strategies of educational administration, classroom evaluation, academic progress tracking, student discipline and safety, teacher mentoring and development, academic progress tracking and innovation.
She has a wealth of experience in the field of education and has served for thirty five years, nineteen of attaint the position of principal of different secondary schools.
In an exclusive interview with A-Z reporter she shared her journey. She said when she was a teacher at the Prince of Wales Secondary School; there was an Era which ushered in the age of computers. It was at the end of the month and she was a suckling mother, only to arrive at bursar desk and was informed that there was no salary for her.
She said this kept happening for five months and she was about to quit when she was later given her backlog for these months.
She said that was the only time she thought of leaving the classroom.
She went on sharing her experience of how she came into the teaching field. She said since the beginning she had a passion for teaching.
Mrs Ophelia said when she graduated from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone in 1987, she went in search for job at the Prince of Wales School and was recruited by the then principal Mr Oratio Nelson Williams as a science teacher.
I rose through the ranks from Assistant Teacher, Senior Teacher, Head of Science Department, all in fifteen years Mrs Ophelia stated also that after the Civil War in 2002, Freetown city was over crowded with pupils that could not access education.
As such the Ministry of Education Science and Technology then decided to open three schools in Freetown to accommodate the growing population, and was appointed to head Constance Cummings -John Memorial Junior School situated at Regent Square Building then.
She also said taking up the job as Principal for the Annie Walsh Memorial School(AWMS), was an emotional moment for her after leaving the Constance Cummings- John School which she described as her baby, fortunately for her, she said she had to come over at the AWMS to give back to that which made her what she is today.
She spoke of her memorable moments at the Prince Of Wales and at the CCMJS as she described these moments as challenging times for her back then.
Furthermore she described her memorable moments being principal at Regent prestigious Annie Walsh Memorial School, she spoke of the fun times addressing students of the AWMS that her grandmother attended the AWMS in 1927, mother in 1944, eldest sister in 1970, herself in 1972, and also her children in 2000, so she said to her pupils that for her AWMS runs through her bloodline.
She spoke of a fun memory of her very first thanksgiving as Principal at the AWMS. She said the AWMS are meticulous about their uniformity, especially she said in ceremonial occasions. She said her white hat had a black feather, in church she said the then whip of the AWMS Old Girls Association walked up to her and said “Madam Principal, you are not in the correct uniform, your hat has a black feather, and “the rule is that if you are not in the correct uniform you will not be part of the March” she quoted the whip.
The news had gone around “She is not going to March, she is not in proper uniform, I was sweating! I then I hurriedly went out of the church, my husband was there and I sent my husband to my mother who is also an alumni and her mother sent her, her hat which she had been using for the past forty years, then she joined the March and led her School, I shocked them”, she said
A-Z Reporter inquired of her future plans retiring form the classroom. She replied that she is retiring but not tired, having spanned thirty five years of tenure.
She described it as an experience worth living, it’s time for me to bow out stating that she is doing so gracefully and with fulfilment of having obeyed God’s Will.
In conclusion she thanked parents for sending their children to school. In her words she said “Education is the key to development, invest in that key”, to teachers, let me share with you my philosophy.
There are two seasons in the kingdom of God(both Islam and Christianity), planting and harvesting seasons, plant in the lives of children as teachers you will not regret it, as a teacher, the music has ended but the melody lingers.