IF YOU lined up every student Dell Rathbone taught over the years before her recent retirement you’d fill Suncorp Stadium.
Here amazing career spanning 70 years has just closed off following a special presentation at WestMAC.
Queensland’s longest-serving teacher first enlisted to join the teaching ranks 70 years ago at only 14 years of age, graduating from teachers’ college three years later to embark on a trailblazing and remarkable career.
To stay in the classroom for so long Dell had to have more than just a love of teaching and her final parting words succinctly summed up her passion
“I have enjoyed every minute of being a teacher, there is no job which gives you greater intrinsic satisfaction than being a teacher,’’ she said.
“There is nothing better than when a child comes to you and says I couldn’t do it without you.
“WestMAC has a wonderful community for both staff and students, and I’m grateful to the college for giving me the opportunity to fulfil my teaching passion for more than 29 years.
“The students give back as much as I give to them which is so rewarding.’’
WestMAC Deputy Principal Janelle Lecinski paid a high tribute to Dell at her farewell.
“At the core of Dell’s commitment is the genuine desire to assist each student to achieve the best they can be, which is in alignment with our college’s purpose of helping students to pursue their individual excellence,” she said.
“Dell demonstrated that age is no barrier to value-adding to the educational experience of students, she has made a profound contribution to shaping the lives of more than two full generations of Australian and International students.
Early in her career Dell was sent to several rural schools and her trailblazing approach began from her first ever placement.
Her learning programs assisted children with autism at a time when the term wasn’t officially recognised
by the medical profession.
It was the education department edict at the time that when she when she got married she had to stop teaching.
Undeterred Dell she elected to teach children, including her own four, through the School of the Air.
She returned to Ipswich in 1973 to raise her four children as a single parent, continuing her career at Brassall State School, where she became Deputy Principal, and was recognised as a stalwart of the educational landscape in Brisbane.
Her career hit another stumbling block at 55 years of age when she was once again told by the education department she had to retire.
She was not to be denied and having been privy to early plans for a new private co-educational school, later founded as West Moreton Anglican College in 1993,
Dell’s expertise, skill, and compassion soon found a new teaching home.
“Dell’s spirited personality is characterised by true grit and unfaltering resilience,” Mrs Lecinski said.
“She is tenacious and stubborn, has an infectious zest for life and an insatiable thirst for knowledge.
“This approach has equipped her to meet and defeat life’s many challenges’’ she said.
WestMAC Principal Mr Geoff McLay said at 84 Dell retains the mental acuity to solve the most challenging and complex mathematical equation or assist university level alumni in advanced statistics.
He commended Dell on her international program contribution.
