2024 Alumni Award recipient: Kirsten Pannekoek

This award recognises excellence, innovation and leadership in contribution to education by an alumni who graduated from FoE in the previous eight years.

Ms Kirsten Pannekoek

In her third year of teaching, Kirsten has contributed significantly to the culture of inclusion and wellbeing support at Richmond High School through her work in establishing a cooking club, an inclusive sports club (for female and queer students) and her new role as Year 9 Student Coordinator.

Her initiative in recognising the need for students to have a safe, judgement-free space to access basic breakfast and lunch foods, and to build nutrition and cooking skills saw her establish a before and after school Cooking Club during her first two years of teaching at Richmond High School. Through this club, students had enhanced opportunities to build rapport with their peers, connected more deeply with the school community, and increased their engagement with nutrition education.

Kirsten has shown great initiative in establishing and coordinating the program, and in facilitating student voice by collaboratively planning a schedule of meals to cook with the students, thereby increasing their involvement and agency in the program.

  She has also shown innovation by assisting Cooking Club students to host fundraiser bakesales to generate additional funds to sustain the Cooking Club, which served as another opportunity for facilitating student leadership. The Cooking Club specifically tackles the equity issue of food security and educational disadvantage in the school, particularly for those students who would otherwise go without meals before or during school. In addition, students who lack opportunities for social engagement, or who prefer to be at school early rather than at home, have found connection and inclusion through this program.