Lisa Jane Rodgers, St Louise's Comprehensive College Belfast

https://www.stlouises.org.uk

Subject or Primary school year: Mathematics
Your place of birth: Belfast
Studied at: Queen's University Belfast
First job: Tile Market
What it taught me: Double check your working out.
Family/status: Married to Tony and we have 3 great boys who make us laugh a lot!
Best advice you could give someone thinking of a teaching career: On a good day teaching is one of the best jobs in the world. Helping students overcome a difficulty or supporting them to improve their understanding or guiding them towards achieving their goals for the future is a real joy. On a challenging day, you need to be kind to yourself and eat cake (if it helps).

I'm a very proud past pupil of St Joseph's Primary School Slate Street and St Louise's Comprehensive College and have been blessed by having excellent teachers support me in my journey. When I left St Louise's to study Mechanical Engineering at Queen's, it was because of a love for A-level mechanics that had been instilled by one of my teachers - I also thought it would help me fix cars with my daddy.
 I now have the absolute privilege of working in the school that helped shape me as a student. St Louise's is a very special place to work in. All the staff work exceptionally hard and the teaching and support staff make such a huge difference to the students they support.
 I want to sincerely thank the person who nominated me; although I disagree with their choice of nominee, I am very grateful to them.