Passionate new principal at THS

After 21 years in education, Anton Strauss has been appointed as the new principal of Nic Diederichs Technical High School (THS), a position sadly left vacant after the death of the former principal Gunther Bühner last year.

Anton was appointed as acting principal and in December last year the position was made permanent. He celebrated the school’s 100 percent matric pass rate last year despite the difficult year the school had.

Read: Brandvlei horror crash: Bühner’s legacy lives on

Anton has been moving through the ranks being appointment as Head of Department for Mathematics at Randfontein High in his third year of teaching and in 2001 he was appointed Deputy Principal at Nic Diederichs.

Anton was born in 1968 in Phalaborwa and grew up in Johannesburg. Even though he is now the principal at a technically focused school, he has a love of music and plays the piano and accordion. Anton also sang in the Welsh Male Voice Choir of South Africa during his high school years at Hoërskool Randburg.

At the University of Johannesburg (then the Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit), he completed a Bachelor of Science in Education degree, with Geography and Informatics as majors, and a Bachelor of Education Honours degree in Educational Management. During his varsity years, Anton tackled various leadership positions and said he considers the day he met his wife, Wilna, who is now the Head of Department for Mathematics at Hoërskool Monument, as the highlight of those years.

Their marriage was blessed with two boys, Marno, a Chemical Engineering student, and Rudo, a Monnas pupil.

Along with their grandparents, the family enjoys spending time at their favorite restaurants, browsing for bargains at the local mall and taking in the entertainment at various movie houses throughout town.

Anton said that the technical specialisation focus of Nic Diederichs “has made it the school of choice for the young engineers and artisans of tomorrow”.

“The nine fields of the school’s specialisation provide a framework for guaranteed employment opportunities for the youth, investment and development opportunities of commerce and industry and acts as a social catalyst in community upliftment. Hosting a full service residence for boys, the school attracts pupils from far afield as Rustenburg and the Vaal Triangle,” he said.

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