Staff Farewells

Sandra Turner – A lifetime association

By Ian Robertson, Alumni Manager

Sandra Turner (Burton, Class of 1970) celebrated her 60th year of connection with the School in 2021. Sandra joined Korowa in Prep 3 (Year 3) in 1961. She loved her time as a student at the School particularly enjoying languages, history and music. In 1988, after some years teaching in the Education Department, Sandra initially returned to Korowa as a part-time German teacher. In the following years, she loved being a Year 7 Form teacher, German and History teacher (Years 7–11), and helping to shape Dr Ros Otzen’s ideas for an alternative program to her visionary and challenging Year 9 Trek proposal. She then became the inaugural Urban Adventure Coordinator.

Sandra left in the 1990s when the family moved to the Mornington Peninsula. However, in 2000, having completed a Masters of Information Management, the opportunity arose to become Korowa’s Archivist, a role that she has performed with distinction over the past 22 years.

Sandra’s role as Archivist has not only involved her expertly looking after our extensive archival collection, but also telling 131 years of the ‘Korowa story’. It is a story of people, places, events and items of interest that Sandra has brought to life and that she has enjoyed imparting her knowledge of to generations of Korowa students.

Thanks to Sandra’s dedication and skill, Korowa now has an enviable collection that is easily accessible to the Korowa community. She is one of the great ‘keepers’ of our corporate knowledge and has been an invaluable asset not only to the School, but also its alumni. Her thoughtful displays and attendance at Korovian reunions have been very much appreciated, as have her insightful tours of the School prior to each reunion.

We wish Sandra all the best in her well-earned retirement.

Gwelda Weghorn – A lifelong learner

By Kathy Guagas, Shelby Versa and Shannon Whithouse

Gwelda started at Korowa in 2002 as a Senior School Mathematics teacher. Over the years she has performed many roles across the Senior and Junior schools. Shortly after joining, she asked if she could fill an opening in the Learning Support Department. She has not stopped since. She has mostly taught Mathematics and Learning Support, to the delight of her students.

It is no surprise that Gwelda was rarely seen in the staffroom. She provided extra support to students above and beyond the call of duty. She has been a mentor and advocate for the Learning Support Department, an effort for which all staff are very grateful. Throughout her career, Gwelda furthered her own learning, particularly around dyslexia and dyscalculia. This commitment propelled Gwelda as a leader in this field, sharing her expertise professionally with fellow educators.

Gwelda’s impact on staff culture at Korowa includes her role as a previous President of the Staff Association, and she should be commended for the leadership she demonstrated during transition between principals. Gwelda has been a dedicated member of the Staff Consultative Committee and integral in staff EBA negotiations. She has also been Head of Year 9, involved in the pioneering of the Urban Program and taught several Korowa staff when they were students at Korowa, a real full-circle moment.

Passionate about travel, Gwelda was instrumental in establishing European Cultural Tours in the mid-2000s, pitching the idea to Principal, Christine Jenkins. Gwelda also attended several of the Central Australia Trips, Christian Living Camps and many other experiential learning programs, including instigating the Year 8 city excursions. After a brief moment of downtime, Gwelda plans to continue her pursuit for knowledge with further study. Luckily, this will not be the last we see of her. We are thrilled to welcome her as an Honorary Korovian.