-Ms. Jno Rose Gives and Gets Respect

Ms. Jno Rose Gives and Gets Respect

By: De’Shori Smalls

“When I was in elementary, me and my friend was pitching pebbles at each other in the lunch line. So my teacher

came over and told us to stop. We didn’t listen, so we continued to pitch them. And then my teacher came over and took me and my friend to the principal’s office. And then the principal beat us with a big paddle.’’

After Ms. Jno Rose told me this story, I started to laugh and said, “Who don’t hear does feel.” It was lunchtime when I interviewed Ms. Hethline Jno Rose, who was my English teacher for 11th grade. As we sat by her desk in her classroom, I noticed her hair was well braided in single braids. Shorter than average size and effusive, she has good posture and a positive attitude. Ms. Jno Rose wore an olive-green suit with black buttons going down her shirt.

When asked to describe herself, she said, “I think I am friendly, kind, hard working, genuine, and an independent individual. I am married with a four- year- old daughter name Nathania. I value family, friendship, living a Christian life, respect, and love.”

She spoke to me in a calm tone of voice. Ms. Jno Rose is one of my favorite teachers because she is easy to talk to. As we chatted, she told me the story of being paddled in St. Thomian dialect; usually she speaks standard English.

Born and raised on St.Thomas, Ms. Jno Rose had a wonderful childhood. “I enjoyed climbing walls and trees, baking cakes, jumping rope, riding bikes, playing hand games and playing jacks,” she said happily. “I have three brothers and two sisters. I consider my parents to be the best parents in the world--very dependable, loving, and selfless.”

Ms. Jno Rose graduated from Ivanna Eudora Kean High School and went to The University of the Virgin Islands, and has a B.A. in English and Business and Master’s of Arts in Education. She has been a teacher at the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School for five years.

Ms.Jno Rose has learned that a teacher-student relationship is based primarily on mutual trust and respect. She does her best to respect students, and in most cases, respect is reciprocated.

Ms. Jno Rose firmly believes that God controls our destiny. “God is good; this too shall pass,” she likes to say. She loves to read, sing, do laundry, go to the beach, spend time with family, and watch African movies in her spare time.

Ms. Jno Rose doesn't know what she will be doing in the next five years, but she will be raising her daughter. She knows for sure she will be living an respectable life. Ms. Jno Rose has always wanted to be a teacher, and to be an entrepreneur.

When I asked if her students treat her well, she replied, “Yes,” then she added, “My students from the past couple years have changed as the years progress. Their work ethic has changed drastically,” But she still enjoys her job. “I like to interact with young people; they learn from you, and you learn from them, and you get to see the world from their point of view. At times it can be stressful but I have learned to be depend on God.

“ One day I would love to have my own school,” she said. She doesn’t want to work for the government. “I think that the 8% cut is unfair because people who work extremely hard are expected to do so much with very little” she explained.

Ms. Jno Rose’s advice to young people is to spend time developing a strong sense of who they are, their purpose in life, and to enable a relationship with the All Mighty God.