Spotlight on our Teachers - A foundation teacher's profile

Maria Makris nee Ereglidis

Being a foundation staff member bestows upon me a sense of pride that I hold a key to the rich history of what makes Melbourne Girls’ College (MGC) one of the best public secondary schools for girls in Victoria. MGC is my second home after working here for the past 21 years. It is rare to find a career that spans over several decades in today’s world and despite all its challenges, the most rewarding moments of your day are simply the relationships you form with your students. I have enjoyed many such moments at MGC.

Whatever curriculum I was asked to deliver at MGC; whether it was legal studies, business management, history, geography, English, drama and information technology, I followed the student centered approach in my teaching practice. My students’ success indicators were many, some in the classroom and some went beyond the classroom. I have always been proud of them in all their endeavours. I have always modelled the humanitarian approach to their discipline and as a consequence we showed great respect for each other. I have enjoyed working under the fine leadership of four Principals and during this year’s 21st birthday celebrations, I was excited to be seated in the school’s auditorium to listen to the speeches of all four Principals who were present.  Furthermore, my colleagues have been such an inspiration. We have worked together tirelessly to build and deliver to the community the finest girls’ school. This was just a dream in 1993 that has now become a reality. We knew instinctively what had to be done after convincing the politicians to allow us to merge two schools and create one large school. We did it! This is the power of teamwork.

It is not by luck that as we arrive at MGC today, we enter through beautifully manicured green grounds.  We invest a lot of time and effort to make sure that we pay attention to the aesthetic features of our school. Unlike my first day 21 years ago when I was stopped by a security guard who asked me for my name at the barbed wire gate when I tried to walk into the school grounds.  My name along with all the other teachers’ names that appeared on that list were not an accident. We all went through a grueling interview process the year before and earned our place to be foundation teachers of this magnificent school.

I am proud to say that the diverse tapestry that makes Melbourne Girls’ College so rich was woven by the students who arrived the following day.  Teachers and students assembled in the courtyard together with our boxes that came from Richmond Girls Secondary College and Malvern Girls College. I will always remember that vision as it is part of my memory of MGC. We had made it and we were now at home. The girls wore a mixture of uniforms but we were all united and strong. We all helped each other and soon the word spread and the enrollments to this new school rolled in. At the moment I am surprised that our enrollments are busting at the seams. The school at the time of its birth had the capacity to expand from 350 students to one thousand. We now have more! How are we going to fit all the girls who want to study here? We must believe in magic!

In the early years many teachers, including myself, had taken on extra responsibilities to make sure we had an operational school. I was the first Student Welfare Coordinator and the SOSE Coordinator in 1994. In partnership with the Student Leadership Coordinator, Judy Abbot, we co-authored the student code of conduct which was approved by all the relevant committees. The student Code of Conduct has appeared on the front pages of the student planner since then.  I have held many leadership positions, including Laptop Coordinator, Professional Development Coordinator and Integration Coordinator and I have been the Humanities Leader for past eight years. I have also contributed to Richmond Rotary as a Rotary liaison teacher for the last two years.

I have lead an amazing and dynamic team of Humanities teachers. We provide a very diverse and comprehensive Humanities and Business Curriculum. Our year 10 Humanities elective program has grown from strength to strength because of student choice. My greatest accomplishment in Humanities this year was to create two student leadership positions as part of the commemoration of the Centenary of ANZAC celebrations. Laura Bass was appointed to the inaugural position as the Humanities College Captain and Pranika Arisht was the Humanities Vice-Captain. Together with my panel we have chosen four Humanities student leadership positions for 2016. Kay Gavas and Betul Tumenci will be Humanities College Co-Captains and Mikaela Patros and Isabella Codognotto-Parry will be the Humanities College Vice Co-Captains.  These students will be our future leaders who will voice their opinions and ideas about what concerns them and will be active participants and global citizens.

I would like to thank the MGC community and especially the parents for the role they played in making MGC such a nice place to work in and trusting their precious daughters to us to educate for the last twenty one years. After such a long service that I have given to the MGC community I am going to go on leave for the entire year of 2016. I will miss you all.