Dr. Salome Tillett’s outstanding story is a supply of inspiration for a lot of. Her journey started with essentially the most modest of origins: in Libertad Village, Corozal District, because the daughter of Juana Isabel, a trainer, and Raymond, a cane farmer and BSI manufacturing facility employee. It’s a journey that was marked from the very starting by willpower, management, loyalty to her beliefs, and initiative.
“Because the youngster of a manufacturing facility employee, I may take the corporate bus to my highschool in Corozal City,” Dr. Tillett remembers. “However my pal couldn’t since her relations didn’t work on the manufacturing facility. Due to this, I refused to journey the bus and as a substitute, we walked about one mile and a half from our village to its junction with the Northern Freeway and hitch-hiked, typically in cane vans. This meant leaving dwelling very early each morning, however I’d not let her stroll alone.”
That dedication and resolve can be a standard thread all through the remainder of her years. In actual fact, regardless of her household’s monetary constraints, a decided younger Salome would go on to discover a solution to pursue her training by searching for help from her uncle to fund her highschool charges.
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“With out my mother and father’ information, I requested my Tio Landy (Orlando Castillo Sr.) if he would pay my charges as a result of Mother couldn’t afford it,” she mentioned. “And he agreed to take action. After I advised my mother that I may go to highschool as a result of it could not be an expense to her, she gave me a correct scolding for searching for assist with out her consent, however she agreed.”
Salome excelled in her highschool years, enrolling on the age of ten and graduating at simply fourteen years previous. Throughout that point, she needed to survive with hand-me-downs from her older sisters. It typically concerned stuffing large sneakers with paper to make them match, since amongst 9 kids, she was the third in line for attendance at highschool.
To today, Dr. Tillett credit her Mother for nurturing in her and her siblings a ardour for studying and a willpower to succeed. Her mother did this by means of their many Friday night time dwelling college classes which included practising multiplication tables, spelling, poetry recitals, learning geography, and memorizing quotes from the College students’ Companion.
Along with her sturdy drive, from her early years, Dr. Tillett had an unwavering love for studying— a love that compelled her to go so far as studying by flashlight below the blankets when the lights have been turned off. She was significantly drawn to spy novels (she wished to be a spy someday) and the college librarian’s encouragement solely fueled her ardour.
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“It was all the time exhausting to place down a e-book. In actual fact, I used to be hooked on Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys sequence as a teen. I recall the librarian telling me ‘I hope you receives a commission to learn books,” mentioned Dr. Tillett.
That early fascination with books cultivated a way of creativity and resourcefulness in her. With time, as she delved deeper into literature, she developed a profound appreciation for storytelling and the facility of language. This ardour in the end led her to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in English Schooling, which ready her for educating English Language and Literature. This in the end offered her with a platform to share her love for literature and communication whereas concurrently nurturing the imaginative minds of her college students.
From Trailblazing Trainer to Transformative Principal
Photograph by Saint Catherine Academy
On the age of 33, Dr. Tillett made historical past because the second lay principal of Saint Catherine Academy (SCA).
“I acquired the appointment letter from Sister Sarita Vásquez, and I used to be overcome with worry and self-doubt, so I instantly prayed, asking God to information me and assist me to carry out this job in a manner that honored each Him and the Sisters of Mercy, who have been putting their confidence in me,” she mentioned.
Just a few days into her first management 12 months (2002), a number of Sisters of Mercy, together with Sisters Sarita, Francine, Mercy, and Rose, came to visit to the college and gave her their blessing.
“They sang a mercy tune of affirmation with their arms raised in blessing to Maria Coyi (the vice principal) and me. It felt like a switch of the Mercy mantle to our shoulders. It was a gorgeous and poignant second that moved me to tears and strengthened my resolve to serve the college and them to the very best of my talents.”
Since then, Dr. Tillett has initiated and championed a management type characterised by an revolutionary mix of humility and energy. She leads by instance and strives to foster a tradition of collaboration and empowerment within the school and college students. All through the years of her profession, she was mentored by senior principals together with Chris Aird, Frank Garbutt, and Brenda Armstrong in addition to by the caring and supportive Sisters of Mercy.
Championing Mercy Values
Photograph by Saint Catherine Academy
Dr. Tillett’s tenure as principal has been outlined by her steadfast dedication to nurturing a way of objective and compassion throughout the SCA neighborhood and a daring conviction that high quality training is the correct of all of the nation’s kids.
“As much as 2002, The Sisters of Mercy have been all the time seen and nonetheless in service at SCA,” mentioned Dr. Tillett. “The varsity neighborhood constantly noticed the sisters of Mercy round, whether or not it was Sister Christine within the library, Sister Josella sharing prayers and promoting gooseberry jams from Santa Familia Monastery, Sister Mercy visiting to encourage the women, or as academics and retreat leaders like Sister Mercita, Sister Andretta, Sister Rose, Sister Leonor, and Sister Carolee.”
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“Because the variety of Sisters dwindled on the campus,” she mentioned. “It turned extra vital to offer college students a way of the larger objective of an SCA training and their accountability as heirs of the charisma of Catherine McAuley and Mercy.”
Embracing the wealthy legacy of the Sisters of Mercy, Dr. Tillett has labored tirelessly to instill the core values of mercy training, making certain that college students not solely excel academically but additionally embody empathy, integrity, and a deep sense of social accountability.
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- Photographs by Saint Catherine Academy
Her imaginative and prescient for SCA goes far past educational success, because it additionally focuses on the holistic improvement of assured, patriotic, and gospel-driven younger girls grounded in compassion and repair to others and who really feel accountable for making the world a greater place.
Photograph by Saint Catherine Academy
Dr. Tillett’s management has not been restricted to SCA. Due to her dedication to the kids of Belize, she is called a powerful advocate for systemic enchancment of the nation’s training system. As a revered chief in her area, she has served in quite a few capacities together with because the Chairperson for the Belize Affiliation of Principals of Secondary Colleges, a founding member of the Belize Catholic Affiliation of Principals of Secondary Colleges, and the Grant Aided Managing Authority of Colleges, Board member of the Roman Catholic Bishop’s Fee, member of the Nationwide Council for Schooling, the Nationwide Covid- 19 Committee, the Nationwide Competency-Primarily based Curriculum Committee, and the Belize Board for Trainer Schooling. She additionally represented Belize internationally on the CXC Council and the Mercy Secondary Schooling Council.
Past that, serves her neighborhood of Crooked Tree Village on the Village Council, within the Annual Cashew Pageant, and on the Crooked Tree Museum for Creole Historical past.
Academic Innovation and Excellence
Photograph by Saint Catherine Academy
In 2005, Dr. Tillett sought Sister Carolee Chanona’s permission to discover the attainable building of a brand new constructing for SCA. Sister Chanona’s response was overwhelmingly optimistic.
“Her letter additionally expressed her hope that I’ve the persistence and perseverance to see the dream by means of to completion, mentioned Dr. Tillett. “It wasn’t till 2017, twelve years later, once we lastly inaugurated the SCA Multipurpose Mercy Middle, that I understood the knowledge of her phrases. To this point, we stay the one secondary college within the Caribbean to have boldly and efficiently floated bonds to spend money on the enlargement of infrastructure.”
Photograph by Saint Catherine Academy
Photograph by Saint Catherine Academy
Through the years, Dr. Tillett has additionally spearheaded initiatives to combine expertise into SCA’s studying setting, recognizing the significance of getting ready college students for the calls for of the longer term. This was maybe most evident in the course of the difficult interval that was the COVID-19 pandemic, which noticed a full transition to on-line studying. This transition is what led Dr. Tillett to pioneer the usage of the Flipped Classroom educating mannequin within the Belizean classroom.
Via these initiatives and lots of others like them—together with the implementation of Excessive Expectations Instructing for All and the institution of a Skilled Studying Neighborhood—Dr. Tillett has been instrumental in remodeling SCA right into a beacon of academic progress. Her dedication to making a dynamic and enriching educational setting has raised the bar for academic requirements at SCA and positioned the establishment as a trailblazer within the area.
Trying to the Future
Dr. Salome Tillett with SCA alumnae (L-R) LCDR Alma Pinelo (Belize Coast Guard), Kaya Cattouse (Belize Metropolis Councillor), and Jacinta Usher (Oceana Belize). Photograph by Saint Catherine Academy
In June 2024, Dr. Tillett achieved a big milestone in her skilled profession by incomes her Doctorate in Schooling from Rockhurst College. This accomplishment additional solidified her dedication to advancing her information and experience in training, paving the best way for continued innovation and excellence at Saint Catherine Academy.
Dr. Salome Tillett’s dedication and visionary management over the previous 20 years have constantly propelled St. Catherine Academy, with the college hovering to new heights every year. Her unwavering dedication to championing mercy values and fostering academic innovation evokes not simply the college neighborhood however the broader academic panorama as properly. Her legacy of excellence and compassion is a testomony to the transformative energy of training and management. And much more than that, her outstanding journey—which serves as a testomony to the potential for optimistic change and progress throughout the area of training—has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of all these she has touched. She is married to Allen Tillett and has two sons, Adrian and Aaron, and two grandchildren Ajna and Adam.
