July 21st, 2017 -- If you attended the Sandy Point Junior School aka The Boys School up de Alley, between 1967 and 1978 and remembered the 2 bell system where when the 1st bell rang you had to stop whatever you were doing, in whatever position you were in and when the 2nd bell rang you had to get to your line as quickly as possible, then you would remember the Head Teacher, Miss Richardson. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Vincent Hodge can testify to his admiration of Mrs. Richardson and how she helped to shape him as an educator.
Enid P. Richardson was born to a teenage mother Mary Esdaille who raised her as a single mother in Rawling Ground, St. Pauls, St. Kitts. As the first of three children, Enid was pressed into working in the fields at age 11, weeding cane alongside her mother to help make ends meet. So determined was she to succeed that she made a vow to her mother: “One day Mama, you will not have to be barked at in the field by the field supervisor, and be short-paid for your work. I will be a teacher when I grow up and none of my siblings will work the fields either.”
Ms. Esdaille recognized Enid’s nascent ambition and allowed it to blossom by ensuring that she let her leave the cane field in time to attend school every weekday. Enid excelled academically, having the audacity to not only overcome deep poverty, but also the pernicious jealousy of naysayers who thought that she did not “know her place.”
At age thirteen, Enid successfully wrote her Standard Seven Examination, which set the stage for her to accomplish one of her childhood dreams by becoming a Pupil Teacher at the St. Pauls School. Enid then travelled to Antigua when she was eighteen to study at the Spring Gardens College where she successfully completed a two-year training program to become a Certified Teacher.
Mrs. Richardson continued to make great strides in her career as an educator, and was rightfully rewarded by being appointed in 1967 as the Head Teacher of the Sandy Point Junior School; at that time, she was one of only a very few female Principals in the country. She made tremendous strides in raising the standards of teaching. Her leadership also led to the attainment of many awards by the school, including in sports, for Spelling Bee competitions, and in creative writing. Her leadership and administrative prowess were further recognized and encouraged when she was awarded with a government scholarship to the United Kingdom to pursue a four-month diploma course in Teacher Administration at Birmingham University.
In 1978, Mrs. Richardson took an early retirement and relocated to Anguilla where she continued to serve in the area of education, including later on leading the establishment of a learning institution in Her Majesty’s Prison where she volunteered her services as a teacher of Reading and Elementary Mathematics.
The enormous number of lives that Mrs. Richardson has touched in a tremendously positive way will undoubtedly impact many generations to come. Her work is mirrored by her students and she is considered the benefactor of many doctors, custodians, solid waste workers, accountants, lawyers, and teachers who are all dispersed around the globe. Their sentiments of her goodwill, hard-work, even-handedness and dedication are echoed not only verbally but in print on various social media platforms. A telling quote from one of her former students from Sandy Point says it all: “Teacher Miss Richardson […] created for me a picture that was so far from my finite mind. [Her] work has produced purpose in my life that will continually transform ensuing generations.”
SPBS salutes Mrs. Enid P Richardson and honors her with the Distinguished Educator award
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