By Bonny Burrows
A teacher inspired then-primary school student Jane Wood to consider a future career in education.
“His name was Bernie Bond and he was absolutely inspirational,” Ms Wood said.
“He was inspiring in terms of inspiring a love of literature and math within his students.
“I thought if I could do that too, that would be very special.”
So she did.
Ms Wood’s expansive career began at Templestowe Heights Primary School, where she worked for seven years teaching Grades 4, 5 and 6.
She then taught at Box Hill North Primary for three years, before marrying and relocating to her husband’s hometown of Berwick, where she lives to this day.
Locally, the current Cardinia Primary School support teacher has worked at Clyde Primary School – for three years – and at Officer Primary “for a very, very long time”.
Solely working in the primary sector, Ms Wood said she had never once thought of a change in career.
“I love it,” Ms Wood said.
“You can really make a difference to a child’s educational outcome in primary school.”
And her passion shows.
This year, the beloved teacher clocked up 40 years of service in education.
One of three teachers across Cardinia Shire to reach the milestone, Ms Wood said it was an honour to be recognised for simply doing what she loved.
When asked about a career highlight, she said there were too many to choose.
“To be honest, there’s lot of highlights,” she said.
“But I really enjoy helping kids with special needs, whether that is behavioural, academic, social, or whatever areas they need that extra support with.”
For those considering a career in education, her advice is simple – only do it if you love it.
“You really want to like it. It is a challenging job, but if you can’t work through those challenges you get a lot of satisfaction,” Ms Wood said.
Ms Wood, now 63, plans to retire at 65.
Until then, she will remain at Cardinia Primary doing what she loves.
