Shontae Iafeta
Pallara State School teacher Keegan Peace was recently nominated as primary school teacher of the year at the Australian Education Awards.
The Australian Education Awards are presented to top-performing government and non-government schools, principals, department heads, and teachers for their outstanding achievements in making a difference to the lives of young Australians.
Keegan was nominated in the Primary School Teacher of the Year – Government category along with four other teachers.
He flew down to Sydney to attend the winners’ announcement ceremony on August 11.
Although he did not win – teacher Tara Barron from Rochedale State School claimed the prize – he said he was proud to be among the attendees.
Keegan’s history
This is Keegan’s fifth year formally teaching since beginning at university as a drama teacher at SOPAS before jumping from the private system, to now working at Pallara State School.
He also hosts an after-school history club every Tuesday where he invites many special guests to speak to the kids as a way to give children an in-depth understanding of history beyond the HASS curriculum.
Speakers so far have included former Prime Minister John Howard, Calamvale Councillor Angela Owen, former Olympic athlete Helen Searle, and local Vietnam veterans from Forest Lake RSL, including Richard McLaren.
“I would just encourage anyone that wants to be a teacher or is interested in it to give it a go. It’s a really rewarding profession,” Keegan noted.
Road to nomination
Recounting his reaction to being nominated, Keegan said he first heard the news through a congratulatory email that arrived in his junk mail.
“I got the email a couple of months ago – and it went into my junk, so I actually didn’t see it for a while. I looked at it and I initially thought it was spam!”
It wasn’t until a fellow staff member also congratulated him that he decided to search for the email once again.
He said he was ecstatic to receive such great news.
“I was really humbled – confused at first, but also very, very happy. I had to force my partner to take a photo of me – holding up the little email to prove that I got it. The photographic evidence was good!”
