Grace Caines; inspired students of early childhood education

On a chair outside the office of Dr. Grace S. (Charles) Caines at the Urban College of Boston lay a single white rose wrapped in green tissue paper, a solemn tribute to the educator who advised and counseled thousands of students throughout her career.

``She demanded a lot from [her students], and they expected more of themselves. She helped them to believe that they can do this," said Dr. Linda Edmonds Turner, president of the college, who said she believes that a student left the flower near Dr. Caines's office sometime Wednesday night or Thursday morning in remembrance of the professor.

Dr. Caines, known as Miss Grace to the countless early childhood education students she inspired and advised, died Monday of ovarian cancer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She was 63.

Dr. Caines's career in education began when she started a preschool program in her native Trinidad.

Her family moved to the United States in 1966, settling in Cambridge. She attended Boston College, taking primary education and day-care courses while teaching at local day-care centers.

Dr. Caines and her husband of 38 years, William F. Caines, moved to Medford in 1980.

In 1981, Dr. Caines became an educational director and supervisor for Head Start in Cambridge.

Four years later, she went back to school and earned a master's degree in bilingual and bicultural special education from Lesley College. She then became an adjunct faculty member at Lesley, as well as at Bunker Hill Community College and Wheelock College.

By 1990, Dr. Caines had left Head Start and her faculty positions to embark on an endeavor she had considered many times before, her husband said.

She joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to Liberia, where she taught and helped develop school training programs and later went to Swaziland, where she worked until she returned to Medford in 1992.

When she returned, she started working for an education program through Action for Boston Community Development. Two years later, the program became a part of the recently founded Urban College of Boston.

``Her excitement came when students began to assimilate the information she was communicating to them," her husband said. ``She was meticulous, and she approached her work with dedication and determination."

She eventually became one of only three full-time faculty members at the small two-year Urban College, teaching guidance and discipline and advising students studying early childhood education.

``She inspired [her students] to do their best and to take it back to their communities through the childcare field," said Dr. Turner. ``One night, I heard students comparing notes on a project, and one said, `You know, Miss Grace would think we could do better than this.' She set the bar high, and they reached higher."

Dr. Caines's teaching method focused on engaging students in discussions and on raising questions to help them better understand the lesson.

``She was the kind of teacher that made you think outside the box and not to limit yourself to what is there," said Cindy Heraldo, a former student who operates her own child-care center in Dorchester.

Dr. Caines again went back to school and this time earned a doctorate in education from Nova University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 2001.

Two years later, she was promoted to the chair of the early childhood education degree program at the Urban College.

``I admire her so much because she has given so much, and her joy was just seeing [her students] succeed," Dr. Turner said.

In her more than 40-year career as an educator, Dr. Caines wrote and published three training manuals for aspiring teachers.

But Dr. Caines's passion was not limited to education; she was also an advocate for the environment. For more than 10 years, she was a member of a musical group that recorded songs preaching environmental reform.

``They produced dramatic choir music that really expressed the need to protect the environment," her husband said.

In addition to her husband, she leaves a son, William F. Jr. of Manhattan, N.Y.; her mother, Mona (Pitamber) Charles of Trinidad; eight brothers, Ramon of Canada, Rienzie, Winston, and David, all of Medford, Roy of Cambridge, Steve of Maynard, Gerald of Trinidad, and Danny of Malden; and two sisters, Jennifer and Daphne Jacob, both of Medford.

A funeral Mass will be said at 9 a.m. today at St. Raphael Church in Medford.