For new teacher and PMSA Teacher Education Scholarship winner Anita Wood née Pointon, knowing that others believed in her and that God was there for her has helped her find a career path that she’s passionate about.
A Somerville Old Girl, Anita said she really appreciated how Somerville encouraged her to explore her Christian faith.
“Through Somercircle and ISCF events, I experienced fellowship and had lots of fun, but most importantly, I got to know God and this has changed the way I do life. My faith reminds me that I’m part of a bigger story and encourages me to think of others first,” Anita said.
“Somerville was great at supporting pursuit for excellence and developing a strong sense of community. Now as a teacher I see the importance of supporting my students to excel and the importance of my relationships with both my students and their networks too.”
“There were many great teachers at Somerville. I particularly loved the passion each one had for their subject areas,” said Anita.
It was one of Anita’s English teachers, Ms Camenzuli, who supported her to grown her confidence and was one of the first to suggest that she pursue a career in teaching.
When she heard about the PMSA Teacher Education scholarship, she thought as a Christian and an aspiring teacher, she was a perfect fit.
Apart from the financial help which she spent on a laptop and textbooks, Anita said the scholarship encouraged her during difficult times, particularly when the workload was heavy.
“It was encouraging knowing that other people believed in me.”
Anita is now in her first year teaching at Albany Creek State High School teaching Year 7 students English, humanities and Japanese. Each day, she really tries to make a positive impact on her students.
“I try to make the classroom a fun and safe space. I want my students to grow confidently in their abilities. I’ve also thought about pursuing further studies as I’m interested in developing students’ literacy skills.”
Anita really enjoyed her time at university and particularly her pracs.
“My favourite memory from prac was when I was teaching music and 20 Japanese exchange students joined my class. My Australian students were amazed when I started giving classroom instructions in Japanese, but soon started looking very confused. I‘d forgotten to translate back into English what I’d said in Japanese!”
Anita said in this instance, she found integrating her very different teaching areas of English, Japanese and music as well as managing a class of 40 students very satisfying.
The PMSA Teacher Education Scholarships are awarded annually to a current and past students of PMSA schools wishing to study teaching.
The scholarships aim to foster a respect for the importance of teaching as a profession, foster Christian faith and values in schools and encourage future teachers who hold Christian beliefs and values, and assist aspiring teachers of Christian conviction to complete an approved teacher education program to enable them to make a difference in the schools they serve.
The PMSA are now seeking applications for 2020 PMSA Teacher Education Scholarships which will close on Friday 18 October.
For the application criteria and form, see our Scholarships page.