Teachers play a vital role in the development of young people and shaping them to become important contributors to our communities.
On October 29, schools around Australia will celebrate World Teachers Day, an opportunity to celebrate and thank our teachers.
Karen Larose has been working in education for almost 20 years and is currently the vocational training coordinator at Carinity Education Gladstone.
She believes her greatest achievements as an educator are "seeing the students graduate and become valuable people in their own right".
"Some students, when they first come to the school, have no self-confidence and no real desire to go forward. Working closely with them and providing them with various opportunities allows them to grow and nurture and then achieve their schooling," Karen said.
"Working in the school is very rewarding as I get to see the students grow and achieve their goals. Working with those who do not think they have the ability to do anything and see them grow and develop is something to treasure," Karen said.
Carinity Education Southside teacher Amanda Gulley supports young Brisbane women who have faced barriers to education.
"Working at Southside is like belonging to a family. Young women here, will be supported in every way possible, in order to become all they set out to achieve," Amanda said.
"Observing the strength, connection and creativity that our young women develop, through hard work and a belief in themselves, is extremely rewarding to be a part of."
Mitchell McAulay-Powell, a teacher at Carinity Education Rockhampton, has "a passion for seeing students grow and improve" both academically and emotionally.
"I define my role as shaping the future leaders of tomorrow to not only have academic skills that transfer to a workplace, but also teaching them to regulate their emotions to be able to deal with difficult situations in life," Mitchell said.
"What I like best is the sense that we are a team and every day we work to achieve a common goal, which is to engage and provide a safe and positive place for students to develop academically and emotionally.
"We give students a chance to learn and prosper through engagement methods that you would not see in a mainstream setting. I enjoy being able to see new ways of engaging students and seeing them improve each day is a blessing. It is one of the reasons why I became a teacher."
Head of Campus at Carinity Education Shalom, Sharyn Ive, has been teaching at the school in Townsville for around a decade.
She says building trusting relationships with students and their families helps enable the children, aged from Prep to Year 9, to "begin the journey of fulfilling their life dream and goals".
"The students and their future goals inspire me to work hard to grow and build a great school. I know we are moving in the right direction when I walk through the classrooms now, particularly the younger years and see the students' personal and learning goals displayed proudly against their photo," Sharyn said.
"It shows that we have good healthy staff-student relationships, mutual trust and respect and a school with pride and high expectations. I would like to honour and thank the Shalom staff as they have invested so much of themselves in the vision of improving the outcomes of all our students."
