There has been a massive hole left in the heart of Kingsway High School with the retirement of deputy principal, Veronika Brits, 65. Her last day at the school was on Friday, 31 January after 18 years as second in charge. She also acted as principal from the middle of 2015 to the end of 2016 after Geoff Harrison left.
Veronika was born in Durban and did her schooling in Westville and at the German school in Hermannsburg in the Midlands. She always wanted to be a teacher and studied at the University of KZN. She taught physical science her whole career.
Her first teaching post was at Empangeni High, where she met her husband-to-be Daan in 1979. The couple was married in 1982 and raised two sons – Conrad, 33, who matriculated at Kingsway and is a draughtsman in Melbourne, Australia, and Anton, 32, who did his schooling at Kuswag Skool and is in the IT industry in Ipswich, UK.
The family moved to Toti for Veronika to take up the position of deputy principal.
“With my retirement, I will finally have time for me and I hope to travel. I also love spending time in my garden and doing crafts.” Veronika was blessed with the voice of an angel and is a member of the Durban Symphonic Choir.
“I will miss the ethics, values, the many activities, the staff and children at Kingsway. It has been a very special place for me.”
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Besides her bubbly laughter, the school will miss her valuable contributions when it came to academics, marking matric papers and being very involved in co-curricular activities such as sport and culture. Whenever Kingsway faced an opponent on the sports field or court, there was a good chance you would spot Veronika cheering them on from the sidelines.
“I was very involved and loved it at Kingsway. I have never doubted my choice of career. The school looked after me well and allowed me to grow over the years. It was a very rewarding time there, but also challenging. The Kingsway community has been really great. It was with a heavy heart that I said goodbye on Friday. I feel that I have served the school well and contributed to its success and I will always be proud to be associated with Kingsway.”
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