Down-to-earth teacher wins platinum
MARCH 2009
Fuelled by fossils...Kirwan State High School teacher Andrew Carter's work has been recognised by the Queensland Resources Council. Photo courtesy of the Townsville Bulletin. Photo by Megan Brayley
A North Queensland teacher whose love of earth sciences was born during a childhood marked by camping trips with his parents in the English and Welsh countryside has won a prestigious teaching award.
Kirwan State High School teacher Andrew Carter has won the Platinum Award in the 2009 Queensland Resources Council's Teacher and Pre-Service Teacher Awards.
The awards recognise excellence in developing minerals and energy-related teaching materials.
Mr Carter heads a teaching unit on exploration geophysics which is used to determine the position, depth, and thickness of economically valuable strata beneath the Earth's surface.
The unit has been a part of Kirwan State High School's senior physics program since 2003.
Mr Carter's award was "for developing new teaching materials to further students' exploration of minerals and energy topics".
Born in Essex, near London, Mr Carter started his teaching career in England.
'I've had a love of the Earth since I was small,' Mr Carter said.
'Our family used to go camping to the north and south-west of England and Wales and I found my first fossil, an imprint of a leaf in some limestone, when I was six years old.'
Mr Carter married an Australian and moved to Queensland in 2000. He taught at Charters Towers State High School before moving to Kirwan State High School in Townsville in 2003.
Mr Carter said the secret to being a good teacher was enthusiasm.
'Be enthusiastic and your passion will come across to your students,' he said.
'And have a hands-on approach. Whether it's earth science, biology or manual arts, a hands-on approach is vital for any form of learning.'
Kirwan State High School, with a student body of about 2000, is a Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy with links to the mining industry.
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