The 2022 National Best Outstanding Teacher, Stella Gyimaah Larbi, has revealed that her passion to become a teacher started in Senior High School (SHS).
She said through a literature teacher at her alma mater, Bentum SHS, she developed a love for the profession.
“Awo Dede [her literature teacher] was a whole mood, she would always put herself so much into the subject she taught and the passion was there,” Stella Larbi told the Independent Ghana, describing her teacher as very passionate on the job.
She eventually fell in love with the literature subject, saying it allows students to express themselves and their thoughts on particular issues of discussion without restrictions.
“I admired everything about Awo Dede, from her outlook, from the way she presented herself to the way she taught, to the way she interacted.
I said to myself; ‘I want to be like her, I want to be a teacher’”, Stella added amid smiles as she could not hide her joy.
Although she had wanted to be a lawyer or a journalist, Stella Gyimaah Larbi underscored that she has no regrets about ending up as a teacher in the classroom.
She stated that all the experience she has gathered in her 12 years of teaching and the skills she acquired at the training school, have toughened her to be better at what she does.
“Based on these experiences, they help me instil discipline in the the students I teach. So, if you ask my students, they always say I am hard on them.”
Her greatest motivation as a teacher is the satisfying desire to impact the lives of her students.
“When I wake up every morning to come to school, I am excited because it’s another opportunity to inspire somebody to pursue greatness.
At times, I can’t help but laugh when I look at the facial expressions of my students; they make me happy. My students are my daily drive,” she added.
Background
Stella Gyimah Larbi is a teacher at the Adentan Community Junior High School in the Greater Accra Region.
She was crowned the Best Teacher at the National Teachers Day in Tamale on October 7, 2022
For her prize, she received a three-bedroom house worth GH¢300,000, an educational trip to Dubai, a promotion in return, and a Ghana Education Trust Fund scholarship to study abroad.
34 years old Stella Gyimah Larbi was born in Akwatia in the Eastern Region and began her basic education at Akwatia Church of Christ.
Stella is a product of Benkum Senior High School, she gained admission to the teacher training college (the Presbyterian Women’s College of Education) for her training. She was posted to the Nana Akobea Takyiwaa School at Mampong Akuapem in the Eastern after her graduation.
She pursued a degree course at the University of Education after attaining a diploma at the college.
Stella Gyimah then went to the University of Ghana where she pursued for a Master’s in the Teaching of English as a Second Language and proceeded to the University of Education, Winneba, where she earned an MPhil.
Source: The Independent Ghana