Award recipient
Jim Wagner
Trinity Bay State High School
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Each year, there is an incredibly moving scene at the Cairns Convention Centre which encapsulates a lifetime of schooling, and the journey Trinity Bay State High School students and their families have been on. The scene, in which students dance a waltz with one of their parents, and with every student in their senior year on their last night of school, is just one of the school’s traditions maintained by an inspiring teacher. |
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Jim Wagner, who helped pioneer the Film and Television subject in Queensland, writes plays and teen fiction, has coached Rugby League and Rugby Union teams, helped lead Trinity Bay State High School to a Rock Eisteddfod national win, and single-handedly teaches Year 12 students ballroom dances to dance at their formal, is a joint winner of this year’s Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) Most Outstanding Contribution to Teaching Award.
Arriving in Brisbane on April Fools’ Day in 1975 on a plane filled with American teachers – who had been promised two years’ tax-free work – Mr Wagner first taught in Gordonvale and was one of the first Queensland teachers to introduce the Film and Television subject in schools.
Over more than 40 years of teaching in Queensland he has rarely taken a day off – colleagues praise his endless energy – and the contribution he has made to students is extraordinary.
The English teacher has written more than a dozen teen fiction books, with titles like “Curses for the Young Witches” and “Dwayne’s World” for students.
“I had a class of Grade 9s and we were just reading a normal Australian book and they all were really bored with it after 15 minutes,” Mr Wagner said.
“I thought well, I will write a book for these kids so they won’t be bored, so I just started writing them for different classes.”
Before being announced as a winner Mr Wagner said he was “blown away” by the fact that he was a finalist, given the number of teachers who had been nominated for the QCT Excellence in Teaching Awards.
“I am not someone who wants to be centre stage. You are there for the kids,” Mr Wagner said.
“One thing you learn in teaching is that they don’t stand up and give you a standing ovation at the end of every class; a few kids say ‘Thanks Sir’ once a year, but that’s about it.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a thankless task but you have to see the smiles on their faces and the quality of work that they produce and you think – I have made a difference with them.”
QCT Director John Ryan said Mr Wagner had made an inspirational difference at Trinity Bay State High School and thanked him for his dedication and commitment to his students.
Arriving in Brisbane on April Fools’ Day in 1975 on a plane filled with American teachers – who had been promised two years’ tax-free work – Mr Wagner first taught in Gordonvale and was one of the first Queensland teachers to introduce the Film and Television subject in schools.
Over more than 40 years of teaching in Queensland he has rarely taken a day off – colleagues praise his endless energy – and the contribution he has made to students is extraordinary.
The English teacher has written more than a dozen teen fiction books, with titles like “Curses for the Young Witches” and “Dwayne’s World” for students.
“I had a class of Grade 9s and we were just reading a normal Australian book and they all were really bored with it after 15 minutes,” Mr Wagner said.
“I thought well, I will write a book for these kids so they won’t be bored, so I just started writing them for different classes.”
Before being announced as a winner Mr Wagner said he was “blown away” by the fact that he was a finalist, given the number of teachers who had been nominated for the QCT Excellence in Teaching Awards.
“I am not someone who wants to be centre stage. You are there for the kids,” Mr Wagner said.
“One thing you learn in teaching is that they don’t stand up and give you a standing ovation at the end of every class; a few kids say ‘Thanks Sir’ once a year, but that’s about it.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a thankless task but you have to see the smiles on their faces and the quality of work that they produce and you think – I have made a difference with them.”
QCT Director John Ryan said Mr Wagner had made an inspirational difference at Trinity Bay State High School and thanked him for his dedication and commitment to his students.