[John Mooney, Principal, Emerson School]
Two years ago, they made me a living treasure of Dandenong for my contributions. So I thought that might be a dinosaur award. But apparently it's not.
My name is John Mooney, Principal of Emerson School in Dandenong, and I've been teaching for 60 years.
I've been a principal for 50 years of my 60 years, including my rural school headmaster jobs, which are now called principals, so why not add it in? And I have no intention of stopping regardless where I am in life. You know, there's no such thing as retirement because we've got to be ‘doing’ don’t we?
[Heather Norman, School Council President, Emerson School]
John is the most amazing man you would ever meet. His ethos is always, ‘If I can help, I will’. He's just the most incredible, warm, humorous, intelligent man I've ever met. And his care for not only the students of this school but also students at other schools who are struggling. If a student knocks on his door and says, ‘Mr Mooney, I need to talk to you’, everything stops.
[John Mooney, Principal, Emerson School]
I went to Ballarat Teachers’ College in ‘66 because my parents couldn't really afford for me to go to university. And I found it to be like a vocation, a profession, a calling.
And eventually, because of a number of areas, I wanted everyone to have the opportunity to shine. And it led to the area of disabling conditions that I wanted to change.
[Heather Norman, School Council President, Emerson School]
It's a calling. You know, he started off in a small school. He's been principal of quite a few specialist schools around Victoria. He went overseas and did education in England. Came back and he was at Ashwood, and they asked him to come to Emerson School in 1987 or ‘88, and he's been here ever since. And we all say, ‘Thank God for John’.
[John Mooney, Principal, Emerson School]
My legacy, hopefully, will be the continuation of some outstanding presentations of specialisation. Some of the best music programs, the best food and hospitality, facilities that people could only dream of. Where we've gone beyond just a facilities schedule and given our students something to grow into.
I want to be inspirational, to teach kids to be aspirational, and then to have ambition for what they can do. And the kids keep coming back here all the time to tell us how they're going. Wow, that is the reason why you do it.
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[End transcript]
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