Levin Primary School deputy principal Jeanette Wilson will step down from fulltime teaching after 24 years at the school.
Levin Primary School deputy principal Jeanette Wilson will step down from fulltime teaching after 24 years at the school.
How do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to computers?
Students at Levin Primary School have been doing their best to thank retiring teacher Jeanette Wilson in recent weeks, who is stepping down from fulltime teaching after 24 years at the school.
Wilson had been deputy principal at Levin Primary School since 1997, and came to the school the year after it moved to a new site in 1996. The school had first officially opened in 1890 on a site in Oxford St, now occupied by Levin Adventure Park.
After graduating from Palmerston North Teachers College in 1974, her first position was at Masterton Intermediate, followed by stints at schools in Taihape and Eketahuna, before the family moved to Levin in 1981.
Wilson also taught at Fairfield Primary School and Levin East Primary School before taking the job at Levin Primary School.
While it would be hard to leave her chosen profession, the time was right to pursue other interests, she said.
"It has been a really rewarding career and I'm grateful to have been part of the teaching profession," she said.
Levin Primary School deputy principal Jeanette Wilson is stepping down from fulltime teaching.
"I've been fortunate to work in a school environment where there is respect and support between colleagues, the Board and Trustees and the school community to achieve a shared vision and positive outcomes for our students."
"It is going to be hard to give it away. It has been my other home and family. I've got strong ties to the place."
Wilson was fortunate to be one of those lucky people that looked forward to going to work each day.
"There has never been a day where I have woken up and thought 'oh no, I have to go to school today'," she said.
Changes to the school curriculum in the past 40 years have been immense, but Wilson said she had always embraced change.
"I've been a learner in that time, too. And I've learnt through the kids ... they're just like little sponges. They soak it all up," she said.
Levin Primary School deputy principal Jeanette Wilson will step down from fulltime teaching after 24 years at the school.
"I have always reflected on what I can do differently to make students more open to learning, to have a positive influence to their lives."
Levin Primary School principal Paddy Sannazzaro said Wilson would be sorely missed.
"Jeanette has been an extremely well-respected member of our school community, by family and whanau," he said.
"Her strength with literacy programmes, predominantly with Junior School, and in supporting whanau and community relationships has meant Jeanette is often the face of the school."
Wilson would be given an official farewell at the school on Tuesday, December 7, by invitation only due to Covid-19 restrictions.
