Teachers and staff who support Rockhampton school students to create a positive future through education will be celebrated on World Teachers’ Day Queensland on October 27.
For Tamara Warner, her ambition to become a teacher began in the early years of her own school journey.
“I had an amazing teacher in Year 1 that ran a very inclusive class. She nurtured my love of reading and helped me overcome other hurdles,” said Tamara, a teacher at Carinity Education Rockhampton’s junior campus at Mt Chalmers.
“I decided then, that when I grew up, I wanted to make a difference in young people’s lives, the same way she had made a difference in mine.”
Experiencing the “touching moments” teaching Year 7 and 8 students is what Tamara finds most rewarding.
“Those light bulb moments in young people – that start with them generally not believing in themselves or in the system – when they smile and tell you that they now can do it,” Tamara said.
“By rebuilding their belief in themselves, students are able to build resilience and build lifelong skills.”
Dan Shaw, who has been teaching at Carinity Education Rockhampton for three years, also enjoys “seeing the growth and development of students”.
“When you have a student who you’ve been working alongside for months finally have some form of breakthrough, it’s hands down the most rewarding part of the job,” he said.
Carinity Education Rockhampton Principal, Lyn Harland, said Dan and Tamara “go beyond the typical classroom approach when engaging their students”.
Dan agrees that being a Carinity Education teacher provides him flexibility to “teach subjects and lessons in fun and creative ways”.
“Instead of students copying notes about gravity, air resistance and thrust, we can load up into a flight simulator and see how these work,” he said.
“We can go to the beach to learn about the tides and moon phases as opposed to textbooks.”
Carinity Interim CEO, David Angell, thanked the teachers, youth workers and support staff working across six Carinity Education school campuses around Queensland.
“Our Carinity Education staff support the academic, social, physical, spiritual and mental development of the vulnerable young people who attend our schools,” David said.
“It is inspirational watching our education teams continue to deliver life-changing experiences for our students – to ensure these young people receive a vital education.”