Ms Reynolds: “Oh, superpower. I feel like I’d like to run really fast. That way I’d be able to get everything done. I’d be a whiz down to the other end of the school. I’d be able to visit every classroom. I would just be a superhero running fast from place to place and I’d fit more in to my day.”
Press Gang: How long have you been working at the school?
Ms Reynolds: “Oh my goodness, this one’s quite embarrassing. Um, I’ve been working here for more than 15 years. This is my 16th here at Grandville East and I love it. Some people say to me, why don’t you move on to another school? You’ve been there a long time. And I just say to them, I love the kids. The staff keep changing each year. The families are nice to work with. So I feel pretty at home here.
“And you know what, I have a picture in my office of my first day and some kindy kids’ first day. It was my first day as a principal and their first day ever at school. And I keep it on my wall and it’s very precious to me.”
Press Gang: What are your favourite hobbies?
Ms Reynolds: “I love going camping and having campfires at night. I love taking photos so I used to have a very fancy camera, but now I just use my phone because it’s pretty good. I also can play the piano, so sometimes at home I play little tunes on the piano. I like reading too – lots and lots of mystery books.”
Press Gang: If you were to change one thing about the school, what would it be?
Ms Reynolds: “Well, I think the look of the school has improved with all of the murals. I’m not going to say make Sprite come out of the bubblers, although that would be fun. I don’t want a swimming pool. I think we’ve got some good equipment.
“I think maybe I’d love to have a preschool on-site and a daycare so that parents can be more involved and have their toddlers playing while we do some work with parents. And so that teachers could bring their babies and their toddlers here so that they could teach. Maybe that would be fun.”
Press Gang: What is your favourite sport?
Ms Reynolds: “My favourite sport is netball. That’s easy.”
Press Gang: What is your favourite animal?
Ms Reynolds: “Ooh, my favourite animal I think is a Meerkat. They’re little, but they put their head up and they look around and that’s how I feel sometimes. Rather than getting busy, busy, busy. I like to stop, put my head up, have a look around at other schools or other things and get perspective.”
Press Gang: What inspired you to be a teacher?
“Well, my mum and dad are both teachers and my two aunties were teachers. One of my uncles was a teacher. Three of my cousins were teachers. So when I was growing up, I used to sit around the table and mum and dad would talk about their day and sometimes it was crazy and sometimes it was fun and they always made a difference and every day was different. So teaching runs in the family. I thought, wow, what an exciting career to be helpful but still be different and fun.”
