Now, Stella has just been recognised for her work as one of Australia’s most inspiring teachers in the 2022 Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards.
Run in partnership with Australian Schools Plus, the Awards recognise the amazing contribution teachers and school leaders make, and is the largest national program to acknowledge excellence in education.
Stella is one of only 10 winners selected for the inaugural Early Careers Teaching Award, shortlisted from more than 400 educators.
In just four years of teaching at The Ponds High School, Stella has designed new and innovative STEM opportunities for her students and made impressive contributions to student wellbeing and her colleagues’ professional development during lockdown.
With a drive to make STEM fun for her students, Stella founded an after-school STEM Club, which now attracts more than 50 students every week.
Through coding and design challenges, she introduces her students to real-world applications of STEM – the latest project saw the club launching native beehives to help educate the entire school about the important role of bees in our ecology.
She has also coached several student teams to success in competitive STEM competitions, with one of her teams winning the 2021 IBM Edtech Youth Competition.
Stella will receive $10,000 in recognition of her outstanding achievements, to go towards professional development and mentoring.
"I’m extremely honored to be receiving the Commonwealth Bank Teaching Award and I’m also incredibly grateful for the opportunities that I've been very lucky to have had at The Ponds High School.
“I’m very excited to begin the awards program and to continue making a positive impact on the students I work with,” Stella said.
Teaching excellence
In partnership with national charity Schools Plus, the 2022 Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards celebrates and rewards educators for demonstrating teaching excellence and helping to address the education gap in schools across the country.
These remarkable teachers have gone above and beyond in spite of unique challenges from an unprecedented year.
Faced with devastating natural disasters and ongoing classroom disruptions due to Covid, the teachers were quick to adopt innovative and resilient education practices that fostered personal connection with students, asserting their place among the best in the country.
Their initiatives include everything from developing unique learning programs such as ‘Annual Mathematics Olympics’ and ‘Project Medical School’, to pioneering new eSports and drone technology courses.
This year, and for the past six years, the Awards have recognised 12 outstanding teachers with a $45,000 Teaching Fellowship to fund a strategic program in their school and provide unique opportunities for professional development.
Luke Schepen, Head of Community Investment Commonwealth Bank, said: “The Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards recognise outstanding educators who go above and beyond to nurture young minds for a bright future.”
