After an inspirational five-week search for the Kfm Teacher of the Year on Kfm Mornings with Darren, Sherlin and Sibs, Jeremy Dietsiso (27) emerged the undisputed winner.
Pick n Pay School Club sponsored the prizes, and Jeremy, who teaches life sciences and natural sciences at Silversands High School in Happy Valley, was awarded R15 000 for himself and R10 000 for his school.
Jeremy, who received more than half the total number of votes, was nominated for the outstanding work he does at the school and in the community.
“I totally love what I do,” said the elated teacher on hearing the news that he’d won. “This year made me rediscover my love of teaching”, he said. “I hope I can motivate other teachers who are struggling during this challenging time to keep going and to stay focused on the bigger picture. Our learners need us.”
If there is one thing Jeremy can talk about, it is the difference a teacher can make in the life of a young learner. He says if it had not been for one of his teachers, Mrs Esterhuizen, his life would have turned out very differently. “She literally saved my life,” says Jeremy.
He explains that being one of four children raised by a single mother, they often had no food at home. “When my father passed away, my mother, who had never worked before, had to get a job as a domestic worker, and she really battled to support us,” he says. “I went through a really dark phase at school and even landed up in hospital with TB.”
Things reached breaking point one day when he passed out at school from hunger. “It took me an hour every day to walk to school and back, in the pouring rain or scorching heat, often not having eaten anything,” says Jeremy.
“My school shoes were falling to pieces, and I had to put cardboard in them just so I had a surface to walk on. Those were terrible times, and it was then that I realised I never wanted to experience that kind of hunger or have so little control over my life ever again.
This is when Mrs Esterhuizen stepped in and started looking out for Jeremy. She brought him bread every day and even bought him stationery and proper clothes for school. “Her kindness gave me a new perspective on life and made me want to be a teacher, so that I could be beacon of light in the life of someone else.”
Jeremy had always dreamed of becoming a heart surgeon like his hero, Dr Chris Barnard, but after such life-affirming kindness was shown to him, he changed his mind and knuckled down, ultimately becoming head boy of his school, achieving excellent matric results and winning a full bursary for his university studies.
These days, Jeremy says, it is his turn to look after others. During lockdown he started a successful feeding scheme at his school and he often provides learners with stationery and food. In fact, he is planning on spending some of his prize money on a Christmas lunch for learners and buying some much-needed stationery items for the school too.
Besides being a teacher clearly adored by his learners, Jeremy is also a Western Province School Gold Medal Coach and a badge A umpire – the highest level you reach nationally. Jeremy laughingly says, “I don’t know the meaning of silver! My next goal is to go from national to international.”
And we have no doubt he will soon achieve that goal – it seems this young man will succeed at anything he puts his mind to, congratulations Jeremy!
A total of 10 finalists were selected from the more than 1 300 nominations received from schools throughout the Western Cape.
