Vale - St. George's College

The Little Dragon
Teach for Australia
L-R TOSHA PATEL (2006), KRUTI PATEL (2003), JESS MACGOWAN (2004), STEVE LOFTHOUSE, SARAH PEET (2003)
I always told myself that
I would never be a teacher.
Having grown up surrounded by my parents and their friends, who
were teachers, teaching had never interested me and I wanted to
branch out into something new.
I studied geology and graduated at a time when there was a boom
in the mining industry, so it was assumed that I would easily fi nd a
well-paid job. After fi nishing my degree, instead of actually getting
a job I decided to skip that natural progression and trotted off
overseas for a year. This, of course, was when the GFC exploded
in our faces. The job that I had lined up for my return fell through
and I came back to Australia broke and jobless – and so began
the hunt for work.
I had been searching for about a month when I came across an
ad in the paper for jobs at Scitech, Western Australia’s hands-on
science centre with exhibitions, programs and services designed
for people of all ages. The job was with Scitech’s outreach
department, and promised travel all over WA taking science to
the children in places like the Kimberley, Pilbara, Cocos (Keeling)
Islands, remote aboriginal communities and also other less
interesting places like Bunbury. The idea of travelling around the
State for work appealed to me instantly (even if it was to Bunbury)
and I thought that it would be fun to work at Scitech – but only for
a year of course, just until the industry recovered enough to start
recruiting again.
Two years later, I am still at Scitech, and I love it. I have been to
some amazing places and done some amazing things, all the
while communicating my love of science in the most fun way
possible – blowing bubbles and exploding things. I now coordinate
the Outreach Early Childhood program, and have had amazing
opportunities developing the program and building all sorts of
crazy exhibits. Recently I organised a day-long photo shoot that
saw 20 children under the age of 5 come through and model for
20 The Georgian | December 2010
an activity book that I am creating – who was it who said never
work with children or animals?
Scitech gave me a passion for education that I never expected,
and I seriously considered applying to study for a Diploma of
Education and getting into teaching. When I said this to a friend
of mine, she told me about a program called Teach for Australia.
This program, she said, takes enthusiastic and motivated university
graduates with a passion for education, but no education
qualifi cations, and sends them out to disadvantaged schools to
teach in their fi eld. They pay our university fees and a salary while
we are simultaneously teaching and studying.
This sounded like the perfect opportunity for me, it ticked all the
boxes as far as I was concerned – it provided me with a Diploma
from Melbourne University; it put me into the classroom straight
away(I didn’t have to wait); there is a fabulous support network
and mentoring structure in place; it paid a salary AND uni fees
so I didn’t have to live like a student again; and we would be
placed into schools in disadvantaged areas. This last point might
seem like a strange thing to consider a highlight, however, having
travelled around the State and visited all sorts of different schools
and educational institutions in all different settings and locations,
I really wanted to get out there and make a difference in the
places that need it the most.
So I decided go for it, and submitted my application with about 30
seconds to spare (I’m not joking – it’s time stamped 11:59pm).
After a rigorous interview process, I was accepted into the program
as part of the 2011 cohort. After a short, but intensive stint in
Melbourne to learn everything there is to know about teaching
in 6 weeks, I will be heading out to Warrnambool, a town about
3.5 hours out of Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road. I will
be there for 2 years, teaching secondary science, and hopefully
putting my Scitech experience to good use by engaging with and
motivating students to love Science as much as I do!
SARA PEET (2003)