Imagine you are a much-loved principal and that it’s your birthday. What do you think your school would do in recognition of this special day of yours?
One person who doesn’t have to imagine is Laerskool Fairland principal, Wille Goosen, who can purely revel in its reality.
Goosen recently celebrated a birthday and the school went all out in special recognition of its benevolent leader, even having him chauffeured to the school in an awesome brand-new fire truck!
The celebrations started in the morning, when once he stepped out of the fire truck, was welcomed onto the school by a guard of honour done by the Grade 7s. As he walked some launched confetti canons. He then sat down to listen to speeches learners from various grades wrote to honour him.
He was inevitably left speechless by the school’s whole gesture. Goosen has been principal at the school since 2014 but has been part of the school since 2001. When he started at the school, he was a Grade 6 and 7 math teacher and ultimately moved up the ranks. “Every year there is something different they do to celebrate the day and when I saw the fire truck it was so unreal. It was the first time I had ever been in one.” He sees being part of the school as being part of one great big family and he is grateful for what his ‘family’ chose to do for him on the day.
Goosen hoped the coming year would see great growth for the community and the school and to continue to make it a great place. He had always wanted to be a teacher, as he saw it as a way to be able to be able to positively influence a child’s life and witness their growth.
Children have taught him to be thankful and grateful and he hopes that he has instilled the same values in them and that they will use them throughout their lives. Goosen is often heard telling the children ‘their best is good enough’ and if anything, he further hopes this echoes in all their lives for years to come.
But what is a birthday without some cake? As he is a lover of biltong, he had a distinct biltong birthday cake that he could not wait to tuck into with others. The principal thanked the school for all they had done for him on the day, “It is truly a great honour to be part of the school and big thank you to everyone for making the day so special for me. I am really proud to be a principal here and we all grow stronger each year.”
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