Friday October 30 is World Teachers' Day in Australia, a time to thank the educators who play an important role in helping to shape young people to become important contributors to society.
Carinity Education operates four special assistance secondary schools across Queensland - in Rockhampton, Gladstone, Brisbane and Hervey Bay - as well as a school in Townsville with a largely Indigenous student population.
Carinity CEO Jon Campbell paid tribute to teachers and staff at Carinity Education schools for supporting almost 600 students statewide - in what has been a difficult year for students.
"Educators are the amongst the most important adults that young people with learn from in their formative years," Jon says.
"We only need to think back to our own time at school and reflect on how our teachers greatly influenced our lives, as mentors, for their guidance and teachings, and possibly as an inspiration to become a teacher.
"Despite major challenges this year due to COVID-19, our education staff have made sure our young students have continued to receive their vital education."
Danielle New, the Literacy and Numeracy Coordinator at Carinity Education Rockhampton, says the best part of her job is working with the students.
"Each student is unique in their own way. You learn with them, you laugh with them, you cry with them sometimes, and you continue to encourage them to be the best version of themselves," Danielle says.
"The strength of the students is admirable, and you find this out when they gain your trust and you hear about their life stories and battles prior to coming to Carinity. This is when you know you are making a difference."
Cath Wood is celebrating her 20th year as a teacher, with the past nine of those years at Carinity Education Southside in Brisbane.
She says working at the independent school, which caters to young women who have faced barriers to education, is demanding yet gratifying.
"I enjoy the opportunity to build relationships with the students I teach, much more so than in any mainstream school," Cath says.
"With our students a 'win' is not necessarily academic achievement; it can be growth and progress in some other aspect of their life. We don't always have 'wins' with our students, but when we do it is so much more meaningful.
"There have been many success stories where we have watched girls who arrived at Southside hurt and angry and walk out the gate after a few years as confident young women looking towards building a future."
