World Teachers’ Day: Teacher Courtney Evans’ great-uncle the first headmaster at Geraldton Senior High School

For Geraldton history teacher Courtney Evans, education runs in her blood, with her great-uncle being the first headmaster at the school where she is now working. World Teachers’ Day is celebrated across Australia on Friday October 25 to recognise the contribution educators make and the impact they have on the lives of children, families and communities. Ms Evans is a classroom teacher and co-ordinator of the academic program of excellence at Geraldton Senior High School, where her great-uncle Russell Fowler became the first headmaster and taught during the war years of 1939-1944. Her two great-uncles, grandmother, three aunts and mother were all teachers, as well as her great-grandfather, who was a lecturer at the University of WA. Before making the move to Geraldton in 2021, Ms Evans grew up in Brookton. She has been teaching for 12 years across Australia. She said she instantly connected with Geraldton, the school and the community, and planned to stay here permanently. “As a history teacher and someone who has studied and taught World War II for decades, I love the fact that my great-uncle, Russell Fowler, was the first headmaster of Geraldton High School,” she said. In 2015, former students celebrated half a century since they graduated school in 1965, reminiscing and sharing memories about their headmaster. This year, Geraldton Senior High School is celebrating its 85th anniversary. “It was deeply moving reading students’ recollections of his laugh and how he never let the stress of the war show,” Ms Evans said. “His male teachers were off at war, and this one student said ‘it must have been incredibly stressful for him, but he was always laughing and smiling and being kind to us’. “When teachers are under stress, if you lose that kindness, that’s actually what the kids need the most, and that’s what they remember the most.” Ms Evans has spoken at national history conferences, coached debates and mock trials, and supported students participating in Youth Parliament. “When students have moments where everything clicks and they turn around and say, ‘oh, I get this now’, or ‘this is so important’, or ‘why did this happen?’, those are the moments that really make teaching worthwhile,” she said. As workloads continue to grow, she hopes to see more support for teachers, as well as funding to ensure quality education remains front and centre. “The expectations of teachers have become more and more diverse, beyond anything that we were ever trained for and prepared for. So stopping and giving teachers that respect is super important for growing the profession and keeping teachers in the classroom,” she said.