Heat Sensitive Classroom

For the first twenty years of my career, I was a practising plumber. Whilst I enjoyed it, my body reacted quite badly to the heat. When I was young, I put up with it. I just chalked it up to the fact that I probably wasn’t living the healthiest lifestyle possible and pushed through it. As I got older, I felt increasingly lethargic on the job and often couldn’t work up enough strength to complete my jobs. That was when I realised that it was time to hang up my tools and begin a new career. I have now been a teacher for ten years, teaching the next generation of plumbers the tricks of the trade. 

I’m very thankful to have changed into a career that has allowed me to utilise my plumbing skills, as it’s something that I love very much. I am still extremely susceptible to the heat, so you can imagine my stress when our classroom’s air conditioner broke down. With my physical health deteriorating as the room heated up, it was very clear that we needed air conditioning repairs. Canberra’s young apprentices very clearly needed the air con fixed as well, as I witnessed their attention spans decreasing as the temperature increased. 

I had decided to call an early recess during the repairs, mostly because I could no longer be in the stuffy room. Once we got the air con fixed our lesson resumed. The apprentices were all clearly grateful for the cool climate of our classroom, and worked hard for the rest of the day. It’s crazy how beneficial my students found the air conditioning. Canberra isn’t an overly warm place for many months of the year, so when it’s hot we all really feel it.

With just over six months left of their tafe course, I look forward to teaching them the skills they need on the job and for their exams. I also look forward to doing this in a nice, cool classroom.