Out of the Box

Retirees Reflection

Kerry Richards

My time at Box Hill High - 

I have taught at BHHS since 1989 so it will be very hard for me to say good-bye.  I have seen many changes over the years, but the one constant is the wonderful students and staff.  I looked forward to coming to school each day to teach my classes. The most rewarding part is watching students grow in confidence with their Maths and Science skills.  I have always marvelled at the calibre of our students and their desire to learn.  They encourage each other and they never fail to thank you as they leave the classroom.  I will miss the amazing staff who are always there to support you and to share their vast teaching knowledge.  My world will become smaller when I can’t spend time with all the lovely people who make up the BHHS community.   I wish everyone the best for the future.

 

 

Helen Tesoriero

Box Hill High School - 

I started teaching at Box Hill High school in 1990 in the areas of Science and Physical Education.  It was a school of about 280 in number and a staff of about 40 teachers.  The students and staff have always been the the highlight for me.  I have loved teaching in both areas and have always strived to achieve a positive and encouraging atmosphere.  The students at BHHS have a love of learning and it has been wonderful to be part of this journey for so long.  I see it as a privilege to be able to contribute to a student's education and will greatly miss the daily interactions with them. I've so enjoyed the laughs with both students and staff and the many and varied conversations that I have had over the years. 

 

As I reflect on my career as a teacher I am both proud and grateful for the many happy years I have had at BHHS. 

 

Deb Schubach

Box Hill - 

The realisation that I’ve been teaching at Box Hill High school for nearly half of my life was not really a surprise but, given that my time here is about to end, it started me thinking about what my time here has meant, and how the school has and hasn’t changed over that time.  

 

One thing that has definitely changed is the size of the school. When I first started teaching here in 1992, the student numbers were around 340.  There were only two year 7 classes and so many spare rooms that finding a spare space was never an issue.  We would hold school assemblies in the hall for years 7 – 12 and it would be barely threequarters full.  If students who were thinking about enrolling at the school asked about our sports teams, we would tell them that while we didn’t often win there wouldn’t be a problem getting onto a team.  The numbers were so low that we were threatened with closure.  It was our then principal, Bob Jenkin, who came up with the idea of running a Gifted and Talented program (renamed GAPP), to entice more students to the school, and it worked.  In each succeeding year we had increased enrolments at year 7 until we became so big that we needed portable classrooms and then more portables.  And here we are bursting at the seams.

 

As well as portable classrooms to cope with the growth in numbers, the school has been through a number of building programs that gave us new rooms, the gym and VCE centre, the music rooms and SATERN and new sports facilities.   As a result, the school now looks very different compared to how it looked when I arrived.  The canteen and the food-tech rooms used to be under the hall where the music rooms have now been built and the year 12 common room was in H1.  The library was on the third floor where rooms 301, 302 and 303 are now and rooms 116, 117 and 118 were built to enclose a large open space which was where the 7-10 locker bays were.  The Wellbeing centre was the gym and the school’s only netball court was in the quadrangle between the staffrooms and 107.  It was lumpy and uneven asphalt and horrible to play on but nevertheless we did.  We even had an annual 24-hour netball marathon which was a lot of fun.  We now have much better facilities and more trees and shade and much better sporting facilities.

 

Another aspect of the school that has changed and will always change is the staff.  I have worked here under four principals, each one bringing their own style and philosophy to the school.  I have also worked with hundreds of teachers, many of whom were, and are, not just colleagues but good friends.  There have been marriages, some between staff members who met here at the school, births, and sadly, deaths.  I have been on staff trips within Australia and overseas.  I have attended year 12 formals and Valedictory dinners, retirement functions and staff dinners.  We have had Christmas Jumper days and so many dress up days that I ran out of ideas for costumes.  I have worked with so many great teachers here, and although some faces have changed, it will be their company that I will miss most.

 

While many things may have changed, what hasn’t changed across the years is the positive feeling in the school.  I have taught at three other schools and none of them have been as inclusive as this one. The willingness of students to be patient and helpful with their classmates was clear when I arrived.  Their inclusive nature, tolerance and willingness to accept their peers as they are, is something I have always admired, and I hope will continue. 

 

However, Box Hill High students really shine when they are out and about.  Some of the best memories I have from over the years are from school camps.  These include the year level camps and the Bike Camp that used to run at the end of each year.  For over twenty years I was part of the Bike Camp, and these were always the best (and most tiring) five days of the year.  Putting up tents and taking them down again every day along with self-catering would have been a burden if not for the willingness of the students to work together and help each other and the staff.  The number of students who returned to go on the camp each year including year 12 students who had officially finished not just their school year but their time at Box Hill, was a testament to how much they enjoyed the camp.  For me, it was watching the young students grow into young leaders through their experiences on the camp. 

 

In 2003, I took leave to teach in Japan for two years.  I not only experienced a different culture and way of doing things that goes with living in a foreign country (which I would highly recommend), but I also experienced a very different approach to education which was far more traditional than ours.  I returned to teach at Box Hill with a better appreciation of our system and the curiosity of our students and their willingness to challenge what they believe needs to change.  Some things had changed in the two years that I was away but mostly I slipped back into the routines of the school very quickly and never regretted coming back.  While some things may have changed the important things were still the same and I will always be grateful that I spent so much of my teaching career here at Box Hill High School. 

 

Diana Willshire

Reflection on 26 years at Box Hill High School – 

I still remember arriving for my interview.  I was in the quadrangle wondering where to go and a group of students approached me and asked me if I needed help and if I was going to be teaching there. That sealed the deal.  In those days, you sat interviews for all of the schools you’d applied for and then you ranked your preferences. Those were compared with the school preferences and appointments were made. 

 

I was at a school of 1200+ and would still see students I’d never seen before every time I did yard duty in the 7 years I was there.  Box Hill High School was a stark contrast with far fewer but more friendly students.  Within three years I knew every student in the school by name.  There were about 400 students in 1997.  Despite the growth in student numbers, I am still impressed with the good nature of all of our students.  Whilst I don’t know them all by name anymore, I’m confident every time I speak to one that I will be met with interest and politeness.  

 

I have loved my time at Box Hill high school and the opportunities I’ve been provided.  As my main priority has always been the people, students and staff, I have spent much of my time as a year level coordinator.  I’ve coordinated Years 7, 8, 9 and 12.  I’ve also been the union representative for most of my teaching career.  I’ve also been the head of Maths, Acting Assistant Principal and on staff association. I’ve spent time on Leadership, school council, consultative committee and worked with Wellbeing on “Girl’s Day” amongst other things.  I’ve taken advantage of the opportunity to sing at talent shows (with a very average amount of talent), speaking at the Box Hill RSL, dressing up at free dress events and sports carnivals, participating in numerous staff versus student sports competitions and I will be dancing in the upcoming dance concert.  I’ve regularly attended year level camps, bike camp, Night of Notables, open evenings, information evenings, productions, music nights, formals and valedictory dinners.

 

One of the lovely things about being at a school for such a long time is meeting students, their parents, their siblings, their nieces and nephews,… I haven’t been confronted with a child of a student yet, but this would certainly have been a possibility.  There’s nothing better than watching a young person emerge after 6 years as a young person with ideas and opinions and dreams for the future.  I love knowing what’s what even when I discover that being called “a cap” meant that I was being called a liar. 

 

I have loved and still love teaching. I’m not retiring because I’m sick of it.  I’m lucky to have had a job with the same employer for 33 years and to have not taken more than a few weeks of long service leave.  I want to see what else I can do while I’m still relatively young and healthy.  I want to sleep in.  I want to be able to make appointments without worrying about leaving classes to be covered.  I want to volunteer.  I want to spend more time with people I care about without worrying about the preparation and correction I have waiting for me at home.  I want to remember what it’s like to not always have something hanging over my head other than what I want for dinner that night.

 

You are such an amazing community filled with warm, intelligent, kind and caring people. You should continue to nurture and treasure this.  I’m not sad to be leaving the students as that’s the usual way of things – every year a group of students who I’ve taught, encouraged and had fun with graduates and moves on with their lives.  I am sad to be leaving the amazing staff and community but who knows what will happen in the future and where we’ll all find ourselves?  You might see me again.