By ALESHA CAPONE
DANIEL Buttacavoli has been selected as the Victorian finalist in the Australian Secondary Teacher of the Year awards.
Mr Buttacavoli is a teacher and head of English at Emmanuel College’s Altona North campus,.
The 34-year-old said he was delighted to be nominated for the awards but never thought he would make the final round.
“I was excited and surprised. It was good, I wasn’t expecting it,” he said.
A judging panel and camera crew came to the school and interviewed Mr Buttacavoli, his students, parents, colleagues and deputy principal as part of the competition.
The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) manages the awards for the Federal Government.
The national winner will be announced at an Adelaide ceremony on 6 December.
A knack for teaching seems to run in Mr Buttacavoli’s genes – his grandmother and great-grandfather were both teachers.
Mr Buttacavoli, a Footscray resident, has been teaching at Emmanuel College for more than six years.
“What I enjoy most about teaching is definitely the kids,” he said. “The kids keep it fun. It’s always interesting, every day is different.”
Mr Buttacavoli has a strong history with Emmanuel College – he graduated from the school in 1996 before going on to university and teaching overseas for three years.
“I was inspired to become a teacher by the examples of my primary and secondary school teachers who I really admired and respected,” he said.
Mr Buttacavoli named his Year 11 history teacher Bill Stiger –now his colleague at Emmanuel College – as one such figure.
Mr Buttacavoli’s advice for young people considering a career in education was to never stop learning.
“Be prepared to learn as much as you teach,” he said.
