She is much slimmer now than she was back then. But Alison Barnett, Miss Jamaica World 1985, still retains the flawless skin and demure and unassuming personality which helped her to win the coveted title. And she is no less beautiful.
Having won the prestigious title Alison suddenly found herself in a world of glamour and publicity totally different from the private and carefree life she led as a teenaged university student. What followed was a life many young women would envy – modeling contracts, overseas travels, fashion shows – and yes, numerous interviews. But today, Alison has given all that up and is concentrating on what remains dearest to her – teaching.
After relinquishing her title as Miss Jamaica World, Alison went back to the University of the West Indies where she completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Language, Literature and History. After graduation, she enrolled at Mico Teachers College where she did a Diploma in Special Education. While at Mico, Alison received the Caldon Finance Merchant Bank Student of the year award based on her outstanding academic performance. After completing her Diploma, Alison began teaching children with learning disabilities. It was while teaching at Mico that Alison applied for, and won, the 1992 Rotary Foundation Scholarship to pursue her masters in Educational Psychology at the University of Florida.
Motivation
A beauty queen now a teacher? The idea seems far fetched and is almost on heard of. So what is it that stimulated Alison’s interest to teach? “It had to do with my frustration within the school system. You know, you o through it and you finish your O’levels and you think ‘What am I going to do now? I went to a good school and yet I was still having these frustrations.”
Disability
She explained that even after she had finished her A’ levels and while at university, she was still frustrated. “So if I am having these frustrations and I don’t have a learning disability what about those who do?” With genuine concern etched on her face, she said, “It must be a hundred times more frustrating for the child who has a learning disability and is within the school system. I thought that I could make a difference and this is what motivated me.”
Alison is quick to point out that a child with a learning disability is not mentally retarded. “A child with a learning disability has average or above average intelligence (based on a standardised psychology test)…A mentally retarded child will have below average intelligence. “This is something that the teachers have to understand…They have often been the ones who turn into troublemakers in the class because there minds are active and that are frustrated…”
And how would a parent know that his or her child is suffering from a learning disability? If you see your child performing well in some areas… if you see your child very much aware of what is happening and if you see a discrepancy in the child’s academic work and you can’t pinpoint why…I’d recommend a psycho-educational assessment which would be able to tell you what the child’s mental ability is and his potential for learning,” says Alison. This assessment is done at Mico and the Learning Centre on Leinster Road.
Although she prefers to concentrate on children at the primary level, Alison has also taught older students in All-age and secondary schools who have learning disabilities. She explained that in teaching the older children she regretted not having got them at the primary level; if she had, “there future might have been different.”
Decision
Presently on a year’s leave of absence without pay from Mico (she took the year to pursue her Masters), she returns to that institution next month. As well as teaching and making psycho-educational assessments of children, Alison has also conducted workshops with teachers. For Alison the decision to teach is not short-term. “I love teaching…When I go back to Mico I would like to spend the next couple of years looking at how teaching and the acquisition of reading skills are being done currently in the primary school system,” she explained emphatically.
Salary
Like most teachers, she is concerned about the salary. But, she pointed out, the decision to teach was borne out of a choice between being happy, pointing out quite nonchalantly that, “I couldn’t see myself in a bank or that sort of thing…!” (Incidentally, her father is Coleridge Barnett, headmaster of Wolmers Boys School.) For teachers who have coped with the high cost of living, Alison says, “I take my hat off to them…I have a lot respect for teachers.” Quite dramatically, she added “Chicken meat has gone up again today; do you think teachers’ salaries raise too? No! And that is why you see teachers holding down…two, three jobs.”
Alison, who crammed the two-year programme into one year, said that ninety percent of her time was spent” focusing on the books…there was very little for anything else.” The little spare time which she had was spent exercising doing social work, going to church and giving talks at Rotarian functions – the latter in her capacity as a goodwill ambassador which is the basis of the Rotary scholarship. Asked whether she considered herself an academically competitive person, Alison replied, “Oh yes”! before bursting out into laughter. Gathering her composure, she continued, “While in Florida I wanted to do well.”
Now that she is back home, Alison spends most of her time reading exercising and getting back in touch with family and friends. She is “toying” with the idea of going on to her doctorate. With mock exasperation on her face, she exclaimed “All this studying…! But studying or no studying, Alison will be walking down the aisle in October of this year. And what about children? “That’s further down the line,” she shyly replied.
No Regrets
Come August 31, it will be eight years since Alison won the Miss Jamaica World crown. Looking back, Alison has no regrets about having entered the beauty contest. To young women contemplating beauty contest, Alison’s advice is: “Make sure you have solid foundation…Do not look at a beauty contest or modeling as your ultimate goal in life; very little make it. It has its place. It should not be your priority. It’s for the year and then you move on.” Alison speaks highly of the Miss Jamaica World contest and its promoter, Mickey Haughton-James who has been quite helpful throughout the years. For her, “the Miss Jamaica beauty pageant played an important role in my life as a young woman. It helped to mold me…it helped me to focus on a lot of things…I think, perhaps, that was one of the factors which positively affected my decision to work with children.” Alison thinks that it is unfair to compare beauty contests with cattle markets. “I can see where they get that impression if you are looking at it just as a group of women walking across the stage.” She hastened to add that “There’s a lot more to Miss Jamaica World than just parading around…the theme behind it is “Beauty with a Purpose.”
Well, as the course of events in her life has shown, Alison Jean Barnett is indeed a true “Beauty with a Purpose.”
Source: The Gleaner’s Flair Magazine
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http://www.missjamaicaworld.com/content/gallery/type.asp?iType=38
