A Point Cook teacher has been named among the state’s best.
Nicole Marie from Point Cook Senior College has taken out the outstanding secondary teacher award at the 2017 Victorian Education Excellence Awards, which was held on Friday night.
The English, literature and history teacher, who has been teaching since 2010, was secretly nominated by her colleague Lucinda Szechenyi.
“She didn’t tell me she was nominating me, I only found out when we needed to lodge some evidence about some of the work I was doing, so it was a pleasant surprise,” Ms Marie said.
She said she had been excited and proud to be named a finalist, and was in disbelief when she won.
“I’m just really excited about what this means for our school, because we get a $20,000 grant as a result … just thinking about what we could do with that and the opportunities there, is exciting.”
Ms Marie has been credited with improving the reading and writing of a number of her students through skills workshops and developing strong relationships with students.
She also regularly mentors graduate teachers, and has opened her classroom to staff and pre-service teachers for learning walks and peer observation.
True to her craft, Ms Marie is also dedicated to improving her own teaching skills and regularly undertakes professional development workshops, has contributed to academic publications and just completed her thesis on critical literacy in secondary classrooms as part of a Master of Education.
“Learning is not something that ends, it’s a lifelong thing,” she said.
Charlene Macaulay
