A Student voice: A thank you from World Teachers Day 2013

This year on World Teachers Day we asked the school community to 'Thank a teacher' via email and Twitter. A host of great personal stories came in from parents and a few from students. With some technical help we were able to share\feed the messages to a screen in the staff common room during morning tea on the day. Amongst the messages there was the following letter written late at night by a year 12 student. With his permission I have included his thankyou in this post (he asks that you excuse his grammar).

To all my teachers,

I only have had the privilege of being at the College for year 12, but in this one year alone I have been taught by people which I have never encountered in my 12 years as a student, It never seemed like any of my teachers were teaching me because it was their job, they often seemed passionate and excited about teaching which I found very strange at first. As I progressed through the year (I admit, I'm probably not the most educationally-orientated student on earth) I really enjoyed being in the College, small things like teachers not treating me like a little child makes the learning experience a lot more pleasant.  At our lunch during the AST (Scaling test that Year 12 students wishing to get an STAR do in the ACT) I saw our principal walking around with that box of assorted cake and teachers conversing with students not just in a teacher-to-student manner which I think had them gain my respect. There are certain teachers who stood out for me, like Ben, at first I had no interest in ancient history, but now I am quite hooked to it. David who started working at the College around the same time I did, I learnt a lot from him, I've never had such a good flight teacher, the learning content is excellent.  Alfred I would like to thank for sharing and teaching not maths, but life skills (I did not do too well in math, I do apologise). Duncan is the most interesting English teacher I have ever encountered (Sorry my sentence construction isn't that great, excuse my African education). And finally, Maria and Shannon. I've always enjoyed drama, Shannon had the great privilege of teaching me from the beginning of the year (Couldn't get rid of me actually), I enjoyed drama significantly more than I ever would have, I was shown that the dramatic arts isn't just some acting skills one could get, but an important stepping stone for the future of any person's career (public speaking, confidence, body language). I would like to commend all of my teachers for their amazing work, adjusting to Australia has been very easy, and I would say this is because of the excellent teachers I have been fortunate to have,  Thank you. 

Year 12 Student