Teaching can mean wearing many hats in a single day – teacher, counsellor, problem-solver, encourager, and sometimes even a little bit of a doctor.

For Montana Thompson, the demands can be challenging, but the opportunity to shape young lives makes it all worthwhile. A teacher at De La Salle Holy Cross College Junior School, Thompson has faced the realities of heavy workloads, time pressures, emotional demands, and moments of self-doubt throughout her career. When those moments arise, she reminds herself why she teaches. “My love for teaching and shaping children’s lives for the better has helped me push through.”
The profession has changed Thompson too. It has developed her resilience, taught her to adapt to change, and helped her embrace a growth mindset – lessons she hopes to pass on to her pupils. One of the most important is that mistakes are meant for learning. They help you grow.

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One learner, in particular, reinforced that lesson for her. Thompson taught a little boy last year who had severe learning difficulties. On his tougher days, he would pick a flower from the school gardens and bring it to her. ‘This is for you, Miss Stuhler’, he would say. The gesture stayed with Thompson, becoming a reminder that the relationship between teacher and learner is a two-way exchange. Teachers may guide children, but their pupils can leave an equally profound mark on them.

Thompson works to reach struggling pupils by creating a supportive environment, offering one-on-one guidance, adapting activities to their learning needs, and making herself emotionally available when they need someone to listen. Yet she is candid about the profession’s difficulties. The work does not end when the children go home, she says, and teachers can find themselves taking on multiple roles while trying to leave their own bad days at the door. Heavy workloads and burnout are among the challenges, but the rewards are powerful: Watching a pupil progress, witnessing a long-awaited light bulb moment, or seeing children develop confidence and knowledge.

Outside the classroom, Thompson stays grounded through running, training, and spending time with her husband, family, friends, and pets. She hopes her learners remember her as kind, caring, creative, fun, approachable, and loving – but above all, as someone who helped them grow.

Also read: Meet the Victory Park teacher helping learners believe in themselves

In Thompson’s classroom, the lessons are not only about what children learn, but about who they become.

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