POLOKWANE – Alta Theunissen, operational head at Curro Northern Academy since 2012 and teacher for the past 19 years, left the city shortly before the recent school holiday and has taken up a post as primary operational head of Curro Roodeplaat in Pretoria.
Theunissen’s history with Northern Academy started long before she was appointed as primary operational head in 2012. She started her teaching career in 1994 at Meridian College. A year later Theunissen entered the Miss Pietersburg pageant and won. This city’s most beautiful teacher was appointed in 1996 as deputy principal of Meridian College.
“During 1997 Northern Academy approached me with a post as an Afrikaans teacher. Some people then believed it was a step back from deputy principal to teacher. But I soon realised the potential within Northern Academy, which was still a new school that had only existed for three years then,” Theunissen said.
From 1998 until 2011 she taught maths. In 1999 she was also appointed as head of department, intermediate phase. She also completed her BEd honours in educational management and laws at the North-West University.
“Leadership skills were always part of my life, from when I was head girl at primary school as well as in high school, and I always had a passion to be a teacher and even more.
“Northern Academy and its personnel and learners, especially the executive head, Sonia du Plessis, will always have a special place in my heart. One thing I have learnt during my time at Northern Academy is that the sky is not the limit. Anything is possible if you commit your heart and soul to it. I would really like to make a change and I am excited to walk a new path with my new colleagues, learners and their parents. I left Polokwane not with a sorrowful heart, but rather a heart full of appreciation to all who have some way or another made a difference in my life,” Theunissen concluded.
