Jeppe boys teacher name top IT educator in Gauteng’s District D9
“I learned to programme in Java and was almost immediately offered a job at an IEB school where that language is taught.
Jeppe High School for Boys teacher Stephanie Craig was named the top IT Educator in Gauteng’s District D9 for the third year in a row.
The award is based on a combination of the subject’s overall matric pass rate, the average and the number of distinctions earned.
Jeppe came out tops again and it’s because of the dedication of the boys and Craig’s teaching.
“I have never had a failure in all the years that I have been teaching. Since I started teaching programming in 2003 I have generally produced some good results,” said Graig.
She began her career as an English and history teacher until she did a computer programming course with the intention of leaving the profession.
“I learned to programme in Java and was almost immediately offered a job at an IEB school where that language is taught. But Mr Dempsey then offered me a job at Jeppe and I quickly had to learn Delphi, the language taught in GDE schools. That is how I ended up staying in the profession and I have been teaching IT ever since,” shared Graig.
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She believes a grounding in Delphi is valuable because it covers the basics necessary for changing over to one of the more popular programming languages.
“A lot of our boys go on to study IT at university, and for those who do something else, their background in programming will stand them in good stead,” said Graig.
When she’s not teaching, Craig can still be found in the computer labs, running the school’s popular E-sports club.
“The sport has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years and the demand is greater than the number of machines we have available and can cope with,” she said.
“We compete in various leagues and competitions and Jeppe generally does very well,” said Graig.
