Recognizing the unique challenges facing today’s teachers, Teacher Joyce encourages them to “Do your best. If you save even one student you would have done well. See each student as a child of God, and give him or her, the needed help.”

“Give! Give! Give!” Mrs Liburd urged, as she explained the guiding principle in her life while speaking at the Four Seasons Resort, Nevis on Wednesday 9th February at a ceremony hosted by FirstCaribbean International Bank to announce and recognise the recipient of the award.

According to local Coordinator for the Unsung Heroes Programme, Mr Gerard Pereira, “Mrs Liburd had been selected as the 2010 Unsung Hero for her spirit of giving and selfless work with the youth, over the past 58 years. She had served as a teacher for 41 years and began her teaching career in 1952 at the tender age of 15, at the St. John’s Primary School in Nevis.”

During her career, Teacher Joyce, as she is affectionately called, proved to be much more than a teacher to her students.  She showed interest in the overall development of each child and was a mother, a mentor, and provider for many children and their families. Mrs Liburd had initiated an after-school program after she started teaching, and this has continued up to this day. She is recognized as a pillar in her community and is respected and remembered by the countless young persons whose lives she has touched.

The Unsung Heroes Programme was launched on 13 October 2003 with the aim of finding and acknowledging those ordinary persons in our Caribbean Communities who go about their good works without consideration for reward or acclaim. It has become the bank’s premier activity in community relations throughout the region. Past Unsung Heroes in St Kitts and Nevis have been: Nigel Browne, Clarice Cotton, Earl Clarke, Ken Evelyn and Winston ‘Zack’ Nisbett.

(The contents used in this article were obtained from a release from the FirstCaribbean International Bank)