A Bermudian teacher has issued a call to reconnect with her first class when she returns to the island this month.

In a teaching career spanning four decades, Kim Thomas-Phillips has taught in Bermuda and across the United States.

However, she has never forgotten her first students in the academic year of 1986-87 in P4 at West Pembroke Primary School.

This month, when she travels home for her younger brother’s wedding, the Southampton native hopes to catch up with some of those pupils 40 years later.

“It was my first class after graduating,” Dr Thomas-Phillips recalled. “When I came back home, I was assigned to West Pembroke School. I did one year there. I had met my husband in college, so I got married that summer and moved to the states. I have not seen any of my students since that first year.”

With her heart set on becoming a teacher from a very young age, Dr Thomas-Phillips attended Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, before completing her master’s degree at nearby Alabama A&M.

Her husband, Wyatt, enlisted in the US Air Force, so the couple spent the next 20 years moving around the country, with a stint overseas.

The teaching continued for the former Heron Bay School and Bermuda Institute pupil, and Dr Thomas-Phillips remains in the profession today. She teaches at a state school in Alabama, working with students who are on probation.

A highlight of her career remains that inaugural year at West Pembroke — and much time has been spent wondering what those children, now middle-aged adults, have gone on to do with their lives.

Dr Thomas-Phillips said: “They say you never forget your first. I have class pictures in my album. Every so often I will flick through, just for nostalgia.

“Every time I come across that picture, I stop and wonder what the children are doing. Did they have kids? Did they get married? I was always wondered what became of those kids when I was learning to be a teacher.

“When I started teaching at West Pembroke, I was so excited and determined. I was going to be the best teacher ever. I really went all out to do everything I could.”

Everything did not go according to plan, however. Three months in, and suffering from burnout, Dr Thomas-Phillips was ready to give it all up.

“I was ready to resign in October. I couldn't even picture myself making it to the Christmas break.”

An older teacher pulled her aside and offered advice to help deal with mountains of marking and behavioural issues. Those words proved helpful and the rest is history.

She hopes to reconnect with her first students on July 21, at the Flagpole on Front Street between noon and 5.30pm.

Former pupils will be able to spot her with a large printout of the class picture. She added: “Hopefully they will be able to stop by. That first year was interesting — I remember everything.”