TONY Kee pushes himself constantly to go to new places and learn new things.
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The one constant has been his commitment to early childhood education.
The Port Macquarie resident was born in Victoria, but his parents moved to Wauchope around the turn of this century.
He completed his high schooling at St Joseph’s Regional and Mackillop colleges in Port.
After school, there were a number of options open to him.
“I was looking to do a trade, which is the path that quite a few of my mates were taking at the time,” he recalls.
“Mum and Dad suggested I try childcare.”
Tony’s parents had a great deal of experience in the sector.
They owned and operated Timbertown Childcare in Wauchope, which meant Tony was constantly surrounded by industry chatter and the latest innovations.
He couldn’t escape it when he was at home, and often found himself helping out at the centre after school.
“I was a bit sceptical at first, particularly with so many of my mates heading off to do the so-called manly jobs,” he confesses.
It didn’t take long for him to make up his mind.
“After just a week in the job, I knew that it was for me,” Tony says.
“I got my Certificate III at TAFE, and was lucky enough to be nominated for the NSW Trainee of the Year Award in 2004.
“That recognition led to me winning a scholarship to study my diploma.”
His family relocated to Armidale in 2007, with Tony living in both the New England area and on the Sunshine Coast in the years since.
Armidale was to have a lasting impact on his life, with Tony completing his Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood via distance learning at the University of New England last year.
Over the years, he has kept busy as an active member of surfboat crews.
“I started out rowing with the Wauchope Bonny Hills Surf Life Saving Club,” he explains.
“I’ve always loved doing it, so when I had the opportunity to move up to Queensland for a while I took it.
“One of the ladies from the club has family up there, and I ended up working in the daycare centre they own.”
Love drew him back to Port Macquarie, following a chance encounter with an old acquaintance, Alana.
The two had gone to school together, and had taken very different career paths.
“Alana’s actually an accountant,” Tony says.
“In some ways we’re a bit chalk and cheese when it comes to our jobs.
“She’s used to get a little bit freaked out when she’d drop by the centre to drop off my lunch.”
All of that has changed recently with the husband and wife counting down the days until the birth of their first child.
Tony has started a Wordpress blog under ‘childcaresurfboatcrossfitdad’ to document the last ten weeks of the couple’s pregnancy experience.
“After 10 years of working in the childcare industry, it has come along at exactly the right time,” Tony enthuses.
“I feel like I’ve been looking forward to this stage for a long time.”
In many ways, it was almost unavoidable that Tony would end up in early childhood education.
His grandmother and mother have been in the sector for most of their lives.
He has noticed a massive amount of change in the years that he’s been involved.
“In 2004 about 2 per cent of the industry was male, and only last week they put out some figures saying it had gone up to 6 per cent,” he notes.
“I think that’s because of changing perspective about the roles men can play in early childhood.
“When I started here at Columba Cottage I was the only male.
“Now we’ve got four other men working, and I really enjoy being able to help out some of the trainees with their direction and careers.”