FOR the past 43 years Archie Fowler has been in the classroom passing on his historic knowledge to students.
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On October 27 he will receive a citation as part of the Mid North Coast Region of ACE Award's Function and there is arguably no one more deserving.
In primary school, Mr Fowler strived to be an educator, but in high school that changed to law.
“I didn’t work hard, so I didn’t get there,” he said.
“There’s no way of avoiding work. You can’t get anywhere without it. The harder you work, it’s amazing how much those people seem to succeed more than other people and that’s what I try to pass on to my students.”
He received a scholarship to university to become a teacher and has been teaching ancient history at Port Macquarie High School (now Hastings Secondary College) for 28 years.
“Right from primary school I had a teacher at Rawdon Island Primary School who was very much into his history and it was just one of those things I loved,” he said.
“In the last 10 years I’ve rekindled my interest in World War 1. I went to Gallipoli in 2015 for the centenary and we took an excursion from here to France to the Western Front in 2008, which was a highlight for my teaching career.”
Mr Fowler said the most fulfilling part of his career has been the five overseas excursions.
“It’s a really great way of spreading the word of history. It was fabulous,” he said.
“The other big thing is simply seeing kids achieve beyond what they expect.
“Every year there are people who achieve in our world, not just our town, and some of those, when they are students, you can tell they’ll be very successful.
“There are also a whole plethora of other students who achieve amazing things that they themselves probably never thought they could (at school).”
He has spent time in Wee Waa and Grafton, where he was the cricket coach at the school and coached a rugby league team to sixth in the state.
“The beauty of being in Port Macquarie for 28 years in this place is that there is a whole pile of people in our town and those who come back, and it’s just wonderful to see those people say hi and tell me what they are up to,” he said.
“That, to me, is the reward of this job.”
Matt Attard
I was raised in Port Macquarie and consider myself a true Port local. I'm a die-hard rugby league fan and don't mind taking a photo or two. I'd love to hear from you, so please contact me at any time.
I was raised in Port Macquarie and consider myself a true Port local. I'm a die-hard rugby league fan and don't mind taking a photo or two. I'd love to hear from you, so please contact me at any time.
