VPHS
Farewells
Mrs Marintha du Preez
A Victorian Legend
pils feel her passion for Afrikaans and they are appreciative of the good start to their high school Afrikaans career. She is a strict disciplinarian and there
are no grey areas in her classroom. Despite this, the
pupils love her and readily accept the boundaries
that she imposes. In her years as a departmental
Afrikaans teacher, she, proudly got excellent results
from the classes she taught. If anyone in the school
needed to have an Afrikaans-related language problem solved, Mrs Du Preez was the go-to person. She
was, and still is, a fountain of knowledge. Marintha
also loves sharing this knowledge and will leave no
stone unturned when trying to get to the bottom of
any riddle.
At the beginning of 1965 Victoria Park High welcomed Mrs Marintha Du Preez as a new Afrikaans
teacher. This seemingly insignificant appointment
would change the school forever.
This year the amazing Marintha has completed 50
years of yeoman service to Victoria Park. She has
served the school as an Afrikaans teacher, as head
of Afrikaans, as a school departmental head and as a
Deputy Principal. After her “retirement” she came
back to school to establish and run our Victorian
Clothing Shop and then, when a beloved colleague
took ill ten years ago, she stepped in to teach her
classes. Since then she has given our juniors a marvelous Afrikaans grounding.
Mrs Du Preez ruled the Afrikaans teachers with an
iron fist. Examination papers had to be set according to her strict instructions and the finished product
had to live up to her standards. Teachers dreaded
Marintha is a remarkable woman in so many different ways. She is an intelligent lady, with a passion
for her home language. She manages to let her pu-
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