#WomenWhoChangeTheWorld: Teaching young boys and girls to follow their dreams
The most recent student she has coached is Elzine Koetze, a young model who won International title in Europe this year.
Cecilia Schreiber, a dedicated woman who learned from her daughter’s lack of confidence, has taken it upon herself to help children through their insecurities.
Busisiwe Maimela had a chat with Cecilia, who is working as a coach for Amoné Modelling Academy.
She explains that having seen her daughter struggle with self confidence inspired her to take up a role as a teacher.
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“I learned to be encouraging, supportive, a friend and a mother to my daughter and seeing how it helped her through life gave me courage to impart that onto other children,” she stated.
Schreiber currently works with children from the age of five to teens at the age of 18 and she says the personalities she meets are a joy to work with.
“I thought taking this on would be challenging, but to see how proud these young boys and girls are at the end of a modelling show makes me ecstatic. What makes me even more happy about this is the fact that every child gets to walk away with a prize so that is exactly why I joined. To help them feel worthy and know that what they are doing is enough,” she explained.
She attributes part of her passion to having a support system that helps her when she feels overwhelmed from time time.
“Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I feel as though I have the world on my shoulders. But then when I check my phone, I’ll find that there is a message from one of the parents thanking me for my efforts and the help that I give their child and that almost immediately puts me in a better mood. I live for such moments where children and their parents alike, see what is being done and appreciate the effort that goes into it,” she exclaimed.
Planning and organising the pageant shows come at a cost for the Tzaneen branch, but because she has a passion to make her students feel like princes and princesses, where a night is dedicated to their talent and growth thereof, she makes sure that she gets it done.
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With a heart of gold, she goes out of her way to find the most fitting venues with ample space for the learners to showcase their talent as each pageant event is broken up into three categories, namely, the talent session, the introductions and the crowning.
Between the introduction session and the crowning ceremony, the previous winner of the pageant takes a moment to do a walk with the contestants as they show off their formal attire to the judges and the audience present.
Schreiber guides the younger children on when to walk in during each session and she does so with gentleness and a cheer right before they have to face a panel of judges and an audience that they may be unfamiliar with.
She also mentioned that having been part of Amoné Modelling Academy has given her something to look forward to within the wake of every day.
“This is my purpose and being able to fulfill it with such amazing children is nothing short of amazing. I can proudly say that I live for them. Not just those that come here that I know by name, but also the children who I get to meet each year when the academy opens. I have a new home here and a family that is ever growing,” she concluded.
Pageant winners in their different categories get a chance to represent South Africa in Europe each year in March and in June.
