A group of people from Parkwood has come up with an innovative way to show their appreciation for those who usually don’t get the deserved acknowledgement – teachers.
NPO The Voice of Parkwood (VOP) along with a few people from the City of Cape Town’s Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) have come up with an idea to “pimp” the staff room of Fairmount Secondary School.
“Fairmount High, which serves our community, is a very disadvantaged school and the teachers have a lot of challenges. When the school obtained a 97 percent matric pass rate we asked ourselves what we can do to assist, give back and show our appreciation, specifically to the teachers,” said Pastor Paul Phillips of VOP. “Normally we cater to the needs of the pupils but we forget about the educators who render a very important service to the community,” said Pastor Phillips.
After some thought the NPO decided to upgrade the staff room where worn chairs and old graffitied school desks were used.
“We want to be able to make it a more comfortable area where they can wind down after a long day or go to prepare their lessons,” he said.
Teacher Roy Prinsloo said the teachers were thrilled when they heard about the project.
“At the school we are running a transformation theme. We want to transform the behaviour of our children, in terms of being more positive and transforming our environment to make the school a place pupils would want to come to. In my opinion, sometimes we focus so much on the child and teachers are usually neglected, they’re under pressure and stressed out,” said Mr Prinsloo.
“It would be nice to have a place where we can sit, relax and unwind.”
Mr Philips encouraged ex-pupils as well as parents, organisations and businesses to get involved to help redecorate and upgrade the staff room. “We encourage people to donate paint, furniture and other things to upgrade the staff room and people who able to assist with sewing curtains and other things. Any contribution would help,” he said. To help with the project contact Pastor Phillips on 062 122 1577 or the school on 021 705 1826.
