By CASEY NEILL
MARTIN Culkin remembers clearly one Year 8 boy’s heart-wrenching reaction to entering the rejuvenated Dandenong High School’s new buildings.
“Mr Culkin is this for us? We don’t deserve stuff like this, we’re just from Dandenong,” he told the then-principal.
He turned to the student and told him he deserved the best.
“That boy’s face sticks in my mind, as we walked into these buildings,” he said.
“It’s a symptom of being put down.”
Mr Culkin received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for service to education in Victoria and advocating for innovative approaches in teaching and learning.
“I’m absolutely stunned by it and extremely honoured,” he said.
“I was speechless.”
The 63-year-old received an envelope from the Governor General with the crown moniker on it containing his nomination.
“You wonder what on earth these things are,” he said.
“With my wife standing over my shoulder we opened it.”
Mr Culkin said it was a “wow moment”.
“How is this happening to just a school principal?” he said.
“This is an award for the team.”
The team he speaks of are those responsible for merging Dandenong High School with Cleveland and Doveton secondary colleges. He planned to return to Dandenong High School this week to share the news.
“I really want to acknowledge this means to us all, not just to me,” he said.
“They were the time of my education life.”
Mr Culkin continues to keep an eye on the school and community’s progress.
“You don’t spend 12 years and do this kind of work and say goodbye,” he said.
“It’s part of your blood.”
He said the community was “massively appreciative” of the work he and others put in and he saw the impact on the kids on a daily basis.
“I always feel welcome back there,” he said.
“I want to see them yield the results for the community.”
Mr Culkin retired last year but the Education Department has already lured him back.
He’s working to close the declining Hawthorn Secondary College and re-open it as a new school.
“They caught me at a weak moment,” he laughed.
“It’s a shrinking school and it shouldn’t be.”
He’ll restaff the school, change the program and rebrand it for 2014. He’ll then retire again and travel with his wife Joy, also a teacher.
“I feel really honoured,” he said.
“I feel very fortunate I was picked out. I feel very humbled indeed.”
