“When I see your face/ There’s not a thing that I would change/ ‘Cause, Jean you’re amazing/ Just the way you are.”
When Bruno Mars wrote his 2010 massive hit, he would never have imagined it sung by a school choir, in honour of its principal.
But this is what happened last Friday, at Clarinda Primary, at the farewell ceremony for the school principal. It was the highlight of a tender, emotional gathering that saw schoolchildren offering heartfelt praise to “the best principal of the school, ever”, mentioning her kindness, sweetness and helpfulness.
Sitting in a makeshift throne, with a tiara perched on her head and surrounded by her family, Jean Hellerud herself could barely hide her emotions.
“I’m not going to cry,” she said when she addressed the crowd, returning the compliment: “You are the very, very best children not only in Kingston, but I reckon in Victoria.”
“Jean has embraced the Greek community,” says teacher Meny Zapantis, who has been the Greek Language Program’s co-ordinator since its launch in 1990, five years before Mrs Hellerud started working at the school.
“Jean saw our zeal and enthusiasm and offered us great support. She has been an amazing principal and has encouraged and supported the Greek Language Program and has further embraced the program by supporting the new migration of Greek families who have migrated in the past five years. Her warmth, generosity and positive nature has made these families feel safe and comfortable in an environment that has been welcoming.
“Furthermore, Jean has contributed and supported these families by implementing two pathways to cater for both native and non-native speakers. On top of that, we have an after-school Greek culture program every Thursday evening. What we have managed, through all that, is to advertise the school,” she says.
She is not wrong. The program has proved to be a strong incentive for Greek parents to send their children to a school where there’s such an interest in the Greek language.
For the principal herself, there has been no doubt about the importance of the program.
“We have 40 per cent students of Greek backround in the school,” says Jean Hellerud, recalling her own experience as a student.
“When I started a second language in secondary school we learned French; how unrealistic, in many ways, was that? From a pedagogical perspective, French is fine, but this is much more where we live. We have a Greek population here, we have a long history of Greek migrants and I think it really plays into our background and who we are and the way we’ve welcomed new families in this country. Particularly, during the last two years, we have had a lot of children coming from Greece, so I think it’s important from that point of view.”
While the significance of such a program to the Greeks might be obvious, for the retiring principal, what’s even more important is its appeal to the broader community:
“It is a very strong program that is heartily embraced by the non-Greek community”, she attests. “It’s a current language used a lot in Australia. Also, when you see the sentence structure of another language, this gives an insight into how our English language works.
“People really appreciate that you need more than one language and that it is important to have a knowledge of another culture. As an educator, I certainly believe it; it’s good brain development as well. Children learning Greek in school may not ever be able to speak very much, but their minds are open to the learning, to this ongoing, life-long process. It’s the constant learning that we need to do.”
This summarises her professional attitude, which brings us back to the praise she received from her students.
“What I’ve gained is the wonderful relationship I’ve had with the children and the trust that builds between us,” she says, looking back to her 45 years of teaching. “And hopefully that they will be lifelong learners,” she adds.
