Most people spend a few years at school. Sharon Brown has spent almost a lifetime connected to St James’ Primary School at Kotara South.
From her first day as a four-year-old student in 1969 to retiring this year after 26 years teaching at Kotara South, Sharon’s connection to St James’ spans an extraordinary 57 years.
“In 1969, St James’ Primary School was at Garden Suburb,” she said. “Then the area started to grow, and they built the new school at Kotara South.”
The school’s history is deeply connected to Sharon’s own family story.
“Father Jim Doran was the one who did the big push for the new church. So, the church was new and the school was new. Father Jim was mum’s cousin, so my second cousin. And my uncles were actually the Dorans who built the church and the school.”
Although there was a gap after finishing school, it was in 2000 that Sharon returned to teach at St James’.
Over the next 26 years, Sharon became a familiar presence in the school community, working as a learning support teacher and then a classroom teacher, before stepping into leadership roles including acting primary coordinator, acting religious education coordinator and acting assistant principal.
Sharon says what has always made St James’ special is that it’s very family oriented.
“There’s something about St James. The academics is really, really important, don’t get me wrong, but so is the rest of the child,” she said.
“I laughed when the Principal Sonya Boslem said to me, ‘The theme for this year’s Catholic Schools Week is: A Home For All. Would you come and talk about how St James has been a home for you?’ And I said, ‘Well, yeah!’ There’s a really homey feeling at St James.”
That community spirit is something Sharon has seen repeatedly over the years.
“There have been a couple of times where we’ve had some really sick parents or parents who have passed away, and I think about the things that the community did,” she said.
“For one lady they went in and they painted the house, everything was done for that family, the meal train started straight away, looking after the kids, rosters to get the kids to school – things like that just happen automatically.
“It’s just a really beautiful place.”
Sharon also became known for sharing the history of St James’ with younger students.
“I would laugh and say, ‘I was school captain of St James’ and I was one of the first altar girls for St Philip’s.’ We used to do the Friday altar serving, something that was a real no go back then – girls on the altars. The kids would just go, ‘Wow!’”
There is even a long-running family story that illustrates Sharon may have single-handedly saved the school from closure in the late 1960s.
“It’s a funny story, and I can’t verify this, but my parents always told me that the year I turned four, the school was one student short of having the numbers to stay open,” she said.
“The school promised, because I was one of six, that they’d look after me. So, I went to school, but when I got to Year 1 they said, ‘Look, academically she’s fine but she’s very young.’ So, then I repeated Year 1.
“I said to my parents, ‘What on earth were you doing? I was so tiny!’ They just wanted me there another year to keep the school going!”
Across decades in Catholic education, Sharon has seen enormous change.
“I love the fact that there’s more offered to kids today than what was offered when I was a kid. With our gifted programs, I think about what St James’ is doing with robotics for kids who want to do that, and there’s the most beautiful choir.”
When asked what she hopes students learned from her beyond the classroom, her answer is simple.
“Acceptance of others,” Sharon said.
“Wellness of kids was very, very forefront in my mind. And the fact that we are all different. If we don’t get it right with our kids, we don’t get it right.”
Retirement will bring more time with family, especially her grandchildren, but Sharon already knows what she will miss most.
“I will definitely miss the staff. And I love being a teacher and having those moments with the kids,” she said.
“Years ago, one of the boys that I taught came to me at the end of the year and gave me a little angel to put on a bracelet that I wore. And he said, ‘It’s not because I think you’re an angel. I got it so that the wings annoy you and you remember me forever!’
Even after nearly six decades connected to St James’, Sharon hopes one thing never changes.
“When I went to school, there was barely 100 kids there. I went to school with only 12 children in my class. So, I hope that small school feel stays and that connection to the parish. With it being across the road, it’s really lucky.”
It is the same sense of connection and belonging that first welcomed a four-year-old Sharon through the school gates in 1969 and kept drawing her back for the next 57 years.
