Bulletin

As our teachers return to school tomorrow, we take great pride in welcoming three new educators to the Union High School, Graaff-Reinet team.

Old Unionite, Mr 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗴𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗻 𝗭𝘆𝗹, returns to his alma mater this year as Union’s new Grade 8 and 9 Afrikaans educator.

Prior to accepting this position at Union, Mr van Zyl was employed at Kingswood College in Makhanda, where he served as the Junior School’s Head of Afrikaans.

In addition to being passionate about teaching, Mr van Zyl possesses a love of sport that has seen him acquire a diverse skillset as a coach.

In addition to being a certified triathlon coach, Mr van Zyl also has a wealth of experience in the coaching of rugby, hockey, athletics, trail running, middle distance running, cycling and swimming.

𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘳 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘡𝘺𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯.

It would not be wise to ask new teacher Mrs 𝗔𝗻𝗻é𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗘𝗸𝗸𝗲𝗿𝗱 what she did before coming to Union High School.

Rather, it might save one time to ask what she 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 do.

Mrs Ekkerd has taught Accounting to Grade 8 to 12 learners for the past 22 years (17 of which has been for Grade 12), she has also taught Grade 8 and 9 EMS. In addition to this, she served as a member of her previous school’s senior management team, disciplinary committee and examination committee (among other), while also making time to serve as grade head and subject head.

Her talents, however, isn’t confined to the classroom, as, during her years in education, Mrs Ekkerd has also proven to be a deft hand on the sports field, coaching 1st team netball and athletics.

Now Mrs Ekkerd (who moved to Graaff-Reinet in 2022 when her husband, Rev. Johann Ekkerd, was called to serve as the new reverend of the Dutch Reformed Church), has moved on to the next step in her life: teaching Grade 9 EMS, Grade 10 LO and Grade 10 to 12 Accounting at Union.

𝘞𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰, 𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴’ 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭.

There are some teachers who engrain a mark so deeply in the psyche of both their charges and the institution that they are a part of, that the loss of them creates a void that is difficult to fill. Mr 𝗘𝗹𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗷𝗶𝗲𝘀 is one of these remarkable educators and humans.

After having left Union at the end of 2019 to pursue full-time ministry (and being sorely missed since by all those at the school), we are ecstatic to report that Mr Jantjies’ journey had led him back to Union.

Come Wednesday, 18 January, Mr Jantjies will be back in front of the classroom, teaching Mathematics to Union’s Grade 8 to 12 learners.

To say that we are glad to have him back, would be an understatement.

Mr Jantjies first walked through the doors of Union as an educator in July 2014… Union’s Maths department would never be the same again!

His classes were engaging, fun and challenging and even when the topic wavered a little to conspiracy theories and the like – always thought provoking and entertaining.

Mr Jantjies initiated the annual ‘Nieu-Bethesda Maths Camps’ where Grade 11 Maths Formal learners were exposed to different aspects of the fascinating subject, and came away enlightened and excited, having dealt with fractals, maths in nature, structural engineering, coding and the like.

Mr Jantjies can be described as an enthusiast of note. The passion he has for his subject shone through him and into those he taught. This passion was also evident in the work he did with the Media Team, and the bi-monthly video production of the “Union News” which fast became a popular and powerful marketing tool for the school, as well as top quality, professional entertainment which everyone looked forward to.

Many Union learners became quite professional news reporters under his guidance – and the fun which they had in the process simply shone through them.

As a Grade 10 class teacher, Mr Jantjies also became a part of Union’s annual “Odyssey”. The first to say that he had never hiked or been exposed to the wilderness before, he took to it like a duck to water, and soon became hooked on what this experience offered.

He was an invaluable mentor to the Grade 10s on this difficult journey, and valued the deeper insight it gave him regarding those in his care. His delightful sense of humour, easy manner, open-hearted smile and sincerity made him a well-loved and respected educator and mentor to many.

𝘔𝘳 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘫𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦’𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯!