A North-West quartet have celebrated their shared love of education.
Four close friends who have graduated together with a Bachelor of Education Primary degree at the Cradle Coast Campus of the University of Tasmania have secured jobs on the Coast next year.
Teegan Townend, Hayley Marshall, Paige Blackett and Madison Raimando grew up together and will all start teaching in the new year.
Teegan will be at Ulverstone Primary teaching a Grade 3/4 class, Hayley and Paige will be teaching at Penguin High School, while Madison will be teaching a Grade 3-6 class in Rosebery.
The four are among thousands of students graduating at ceremonies across the State this month.
The four graduates told Advocate reporter Rodney Dunn they were grateful for being able to study, graduate, and now live and work on the North- West Coast as teachers.
“It’s nice to be able to share that experience and share what you love doing and what they love doing and be able to talk about that,” Hayley said.
”When I went through primary school, I was always the student that helped everyone else when I finished my work, I think the natural next step was to go into teaching,” Paige said.
Teegan said being a teacher was a life-long dream.
“Teaching is something I have always wanted to do ever since I was in primary school,” she said.
For Hayley being a primary school teacher is about making a difference.
The four friends have paid tribute to the team of lecturers at the Cradle Campus, praising Education Lecturer, Dr Stephanie Clayton.
Teegan said Dr Clayton was always there when they needed assistance no matter what the query.
“Stephanie was always there; her door was always open and the help we needed was also there, she would always find a way to help us,” Teegan said.
Dr Clayton congratulated the girls and all the Cradle Campus 2021 graduates.
“We develop great relationships with our students during their four years of study at the CCC, and it is wonderful to watch them graduate and successfully gain employment,” Dr Clayton said.
“We are always so proud of our students as we see them develop into confident, effective teachers throughout their placements and course work.”
Dr Clayton said she was passionate about helping students to lay a strong foundation for their studies and learn skills that will help them in their future careers.
“I really love working with education students, teaching students about academic writing, academic integrity and referencing, communication, and the expectations and requirements of them as educators,” Dr Clayton said.
The Bachelor of Education (Primary) is a pre-service teaching degree, preparing teachers for roles in primary teaching from Prep through to Grade 6.
