As they retire after decades of serving Grey High School with diligence, three teachers leave hoping to have positively shaped the lives of pupils in their educational care.
Anton Scholtz, Louis du Plessis and Marliza Taylor will at the end of the school term bid Grey goodbye after being at the school for 32, 39 and 20 years, respectively.
With only a few weeks left and countless memories since joining as an isiXhosa and physical education teacher in 1982, Du Plessis said he looked forward to pursuing all the hobbies that had taken a back seat while he focused on teaching.
These include painting, knife-building, music and photography.
“There are 30 pairs of eyes watching your every move in the classroom,” he said.
“Even a little unguarded thing that you say can really change someone’s life.
“One hopes that one has been positive most of the time,” he said.
Du Plessis, who grew up on a farm in Adelaide surrounded by isiXhosa-speaking friends, learnt to understand and speak the language fluently from a young age.
He later switched from subject head for isiXhosa to teaching mathematics.
Du Plessis would later be in charge of the school’s athletics club for more than 30 years, during which time he became chair of EP Athletics.
“Something that will always stand out for me is the impact you can have on a student’s life, whether in the classroom or sports field.
“I can remember this one boy I’ve coached who later told me about how a medal he had received made his high school career.
“When you hear such things you realise that it’s just those little things that can have a big impact on someone’s life,” he said.
Similarly, Taylor leaves the school with the belief that she played a positive role in her pupils’ lives.
Taylor joined Grey Junior in 1979 and left in 1984. She returned to the school in 1991 and stayed a further five years.
She relocated to teach in Knysna and started a family before returning to teach at the high school in 2001.
While she initially taught piano at Grey Junior, Taylor taught string instruments in high school and took charge of the school’s string orchestra.
“Because I had started at the junior school in ’79, I had the privilege of knowing Mr Rob Selley who started music at Grey many years ago.
“When I played in the old PE Orchestra, I played under him and he was quite a formidable person.
“You really had to make sure that you knew your stuff,” Taylor said.
She said being a music teacher allowed her to form strong relationships with her pupils and get to know them personally.
With more free time on her hands, Taylor plans to spend it with her grandchildren, travelling and exploring more hobbies.
She also plans to continue teaching on a part-time basis.
“I am proud of my journey at Grey and I’ve done my best to make sure that people enjoy what they do.
“I do believe that I’ve achieved what I set out to do,” she said.
Scholtz, who joined Grey High School as head of department in 1989, initially taught science and biology but eventually dropped biology.
He previously taught at Queen’s College in Komani.
Scholtz counts organising sports tournaments as one of his most enjoyable contributions to the school and pupils’ lives.
“What I really enjoyed most of the time was just being in the classroom teaching the boys and being on the sports field when I coach first team rugby,” he said.
A jack of multiple trades, Scholtz was also the school’s head of cadets from 1991 until 2007 and later took charge of the parades at school reunions.
Scholtz leaves the school with a sense of pride from having witnessed generations of Grey boys adopt the school’s culture of discipline and camaraderie.
Retirement means Scholtz can now fulfil his desire to travel through Namibia for a month.
When he was not travelling, he said, he would most likely be hiding away in his garden or doing pottery and woodwork among other hobbies.
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