Mrs Anne Cowan, or Mrs Cherry Cowan as she is better known, joined the School 30 years ago. Since then, her love for the School and School’s community kept her here and her passion for Science shows through her classes as she imparts invaluable knowledge about the environment to her students.

I started my teaching career in Zimbabwe, having completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Cape Town, South Africa. I had always loved the honesty and energy that you see in children, and felt that if I worked with them, I would never be bored. How right I was!

I taught in two boys’ schools in Harare before we married and had our children, and then we had to make one of the toughest decisions of our lives…to leave our beloved Africa and start a new life in Australia.

We were embraced by the great community at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School in 1988 and have been thankful for this on a daily basis. I did some relief teaching at Newton Moore, Australind High and Bunbury High and then taught part-time at Bunbury High for a year. An opportunity presented itself to move across to the Grammar School in 1990, and I could never find a good enough reason to move on, so here I am 30 years later!

Teaching Science is amazing. The hands-on approach makes it a popular option for children, and the action, noise and wonder that is a part of everyday life in the department have made it a great place to work.

I have learned so much about Australian flora and fauna since I have been here, and one of my happy places is when we are on camp somewhere in a forest or working with personnel from The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. The best part of it all is when some of your students move on to study Environmental Science at university.

We have always considered ourselves lucky to have landed in Bunbury. We have had the opportunity to educate our children here at the School and have made many very special friendships over the years. It is a beautiful place to live, and it has been a privilege to have been so closely involved with the School and the wider community over so many years.