When Jo-Anne started teaching at the age of 22, Pakenham Secondary, then known as Pakenham High School, was a very different place from what it is today.
“The school sat in the middle of paddocks. The school had a herd of dairy cows,” she said.
“It was a far more country, rural school.
“Most of the kids came on the bus. Most of the kids had a farming background. Now that is not the case here in any way, shape or form.”
From a young age, Jo-Anne knew she would be a teacher. People who knew her would all say she was always going to be a teacher.
Growing up in Narre Warren, she completed her initial training rounds at Pakenham.
In those days, you did not apply for a role. Once qualified, the Department of Education would ask which area you preferred, and if you were lucky, they would place you somewhere close by when they called you for deployment.
Jo-Anne was lucky enough to be appointed to a school she was already familiar with.
If you had told her younger self that she would remain at the school until retirement, she would have laughed.
“They rang me up and said, report to Pakenham Secondary College, they need a replacement teacher for maternity leave.
“And six months turned into 40 years.”
She taught maths and biology and took on numerous leadership roles across all year levels.
Jo-Anne never took the next step, however.
“I’ll miss the students.
“There’s no doubt about that. They’re the reason I’ve stayed doing what I’m doing. That’s why I never became a principal, because I didn’t ever want to lose that one-on-one contact with the kids.”
The students are also the reason she stayed in the public system. She has helped students affected by devastating situations outside of school, and Jo-Anne is proud to have contributed to the public education system.
As rewarding as nurturing students and staff can be, it can also make tragedy hurt even more.
Before 2015, Jo-Anne’s teaching was more centred on younger year levels, as she was the Year 7 coordinator.
In March of that year, 12-year-old student Leah Turaga collapsed in the Year 7 locker bay and later passed away in hospital.
“She came up the stairs. I said, ‘Hi love, seeing you smile today,’ and that was probably the last words she ever heard.”
“When I used to take tours for Year 7 parents, I used to say, I’ve never lost one.
“And then I lost one, and I couldn’t say that to them again. So I needed a change.
“It’s the most significant thing I’ve ever dealt with as a teacher.”
From then on, she moved to working with older students, looking after Years 11 and 12.
Despite tragedy, to Jo-Anne, the kids always come first.
“No kid ever went without what they needed because I found a way, usually out of my own pocket, to make sure that they had what they needed for their wellbeing and their success.”
With her retirement now underway after last Friday, she plans to spend more time with family and enjoy some well-deserved rest.
“I have been overwhelmed, truly overwhelmed, with people’s interest in me.
“I’m staggered that people have shown me the love that they have.”
