Farewell fanfare held for retirees
ANNE Theresa Vincent retired after serving 31 years as an English teacher.
A special assembly was held at SMK St Paul (SPI) in Seremban. It was attended by the school staff, teachers and about 800 students, many of whom presented Anne Theresa with gifts and parting words as a show of their appreciation.
Anne Theresa has taught at SK Taman Keramat 1 in Kuala Lumpur, SK Batang Benar in Mantin, SMJK Chi Wen in Bahau, SMK Tunku Kursiah in Kuala Pilah, SMK Mantin and SPI.
She has held various posts including class teacher, SPI’s English Panel Head for eight years and Technical Chairman for Seremban 1 District English Language Co-Academic activities for five years.
She has also been Excellent English Teacher (Guru Cemerlang Bahasa Inggeris) as well as SPI’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) secretary.
She was previously involved in a smart school pilot project and writing multimedia scripts for smart schools under the Education Technology Division.
Thanks to Anne Theresa’s leadership, SPI has won several awards such as district level debate runner–up in 2011 as well as qualifying for debate and public speaking at the national level respectively in 2013 and 2014.
Sharing one of her fondest memories, Anne Theresa said a former student once approached her and asked if she could recognise him.
“I told him that he looked very familiar but I couldn’t remember his name. He told me that I taught him when he was in Remove Class and that is when he really started to love learning English.
“Now he is in university doing his final semester in engineering,” she said, adding that she was so touched with his gesture.
“A simple thank you from a grateful heart is the most treasured gift that I have ever received,” she added.
Meanwhile, SMK Mantin bid farewell to senior English teacher Chin Lai Chun and school operation assistant Gunasekaran Muthusamy last Friday.
PTA chairman Abdul Gani Mohamad Daud and Curricular Senior Assistant Josephine Ong Kui Hua spoke at the retirement ceremony.
There was a poem recital and singing as well as the cake cutting ceremony.
It was attended by school staff, PTA members and over 1,000 students.
In her speech, Ong thanked Chin and Gunasekaran for their dedication and commitment.
Chin has served as a teacher in SMK Machang and SMK Pintu Geng, both in Kelantan as well as Sekolah Tinggi Port Dickson and SMK Mantin in Negri Sembilan.
In her 32 years of service, Chin was a head of English Panel for 23 years in different schools. She always shared her knowledge with the English Panel members and guided young English teachers in their work. She received the Excellence Service Award in 2004 in SMK Mantin.
Gunasekaran who retired after 33 years of service, served as a school operation assistant in SMK Tunku Ampuan Durah and SMK Mantin, both located in Negri Sembilan. He received the Excellence Service Awards in 2007 and 2016 in SMK Mantin.