Christiana Lees (Cohort 2018) is one of Teach For Australia’s newest Associates.
She joined the program at the beginning of this year and finds herself teaching her passion – Mathematics – to students at Taminmin College in Darwin.
Although Christiana didn’t necessarily come from an academically-driven background, it was the support and drive from her teachers that initially encouraged her to continue her studies and ultimately what made her become the teacher she is today.
“I studied Global Challenges with Honours at Monash, with a major in Applied Mathematics. As I approached graduation, I considered management consulting and investment banking, but I applied for Teach For Australia because I recognised the value in the opportunities my education provided, and the great teachers I was lucky to have, and wanted to pass that on. I also love Maths, and really enjoy teaching it, and trying to inspire students to engage with it too.”
“I remember my teacher in Year 5 who first spoke to my parents encouraging them to apply for an academic scholarships for high school, a science teacher in Year 7 who supported me when I was having a hard time adjusting to high school. I especially remember the teachers who would make time for us to come and ask for help.”
“As an Associate with TFA, I have as much support as I could hope for. I have a great school mentor that I can go to at any time, and my TLA is also awesome and very approachable, and gives great feedback.”
“I love the number of problems I get to solve every day. No matter how tough a day was, at the end of it I am always excited to try a new solution or do something a bit different to see what works better for my classes. I think I have been really lucky to be teaching Maths – which is where my expertise is in and what I love discussing.”
Applications for our Leadership Development Program are closing soon.
