I had a lovely meeting in Paihia in late August with Ann to talk about her involvement with Hillary College. We chatted about her years at Hillary and where she went after leaving our beloved school.
Ann started teaching at Hillary College in August 1970 as Head of Languages, teaching French and English. She considers her move to Hillary College from a country school in the Bay of Plenty as “The best thing that happened in my life”. Ann remembers that it was in a class one day at Hillary, when it really “hit home” to her, how important teachers were to students; life chances and future opportunities. So many families had come down from the North, or over from the Islands to Otara for work and education, “absolutely wanting the best for their kids, so what an awesome responsibility it was for teachers to deliver that to them”. She considered, “If we could do our job well, and help students succeed, then they were on their way”.
At that time Hillary College was 60 percent Maori and Pasifika ethnicity and 40 percent Pakeha and it was the only school in NZ, with such percentages! The school represented “stepping into the future” in two ways for Ann: Firstly, the widespread population change and secondly, she was meeting Pacific Island people for the first time. Ann fondly remembers warm friendships with wonderful innovative young staff members – Warren Lindberg (1968), Ian Mitchell (1969) and HoD Maori Roimata Kirikiri, along with the visionary leadership of Garfield Johnson (foundation Principal of Otara College / Hillary College). Ann also remembers Hillary being a leading school in introducing the “Dean Structure” to schools in the early 1970s. She was the Fifth Form (Year 11) Dean and Ian Mitchell was the Fourth Form (Year 10) Dean.
Ann’s highlights as a teacher at Hillary College are many and a couple really gave her a lot of joy. These were: – appreciating the quality of so many students who had significant Leadership abilities. A number of these students have moved on to realise their potential and fill really important roles. Ann also had fond memories of the Hillary College Polynesian Club formed by Roimata Kirikiri and Ian Mitchell. This club was a “first” in Aotearoa, as schools that had cultural groups at the time, were primarily Maori Groups. The Polynesian Club consisted of students from all the different ethnic groups, coming together to form one Club and travelled / competed in competitions as such.
Ann left Hillary College at the end of 1975 to become the foundation Deputy Principal at Tangaroa College (10 Years). Gerry Mullin, foundation Principal at Tangaroa, had previously been Deputy Principal at Hillary. Another former Hillary staff member, Jeno Rozas (HoD of Commercial) also joined Gerry and Ann at Tangaroa College taking up the Senior Master role, while Martin van der Linden HoD Technical, joined them the next year. Ann spent 10 really good years at Tangaroa College before leaving to be Principal at Penrose High School from 1986 to 1999.
Towards the end of her time at Penrose High School, Ann developed an interest in the benefits of Youth Mentoring, so continued supporting developments in this field when she moved to work at the Faculty of Education, University of Auckland – where she continues to be Chair of the NZ Youth Mentoring Network.
Ann and other Otara teachers, Warren Lindberg and Joy Eaton, along with former journalist Carol Bucknell (Hillary student, 1969 – 1973) are involved in gathering material for a publication to celebrate the achievements of both Hillary and Tangaroa College. Ann noted that “There was a time from 1966 until the start of Tomorrow’s Schools in 1989, when Otara was absolutely leading the way in so many positive aspects of education”. These golden years need to be placed on record, together with the names of so many wonderful colleagues who are no longer with us.
Gary Peach,
OC, HC, SEHC Alumni Chair