The well-known Merriwa woman is not only a leader in education, she’s a leader as a mother, a committed community member and a genuinely lovely person. 

Mrs Whale is not only known in Merriwa, as she has also shaped the lives of children in Denman and Muswellbrook throughout the years. 

Being the principal at St Joseph’s Primary School Merriwa, where the dedicated woman spends many hours of her time, Mrs Whale is a qualified primary and secondary teacher. 

For the past seven years she has been principal at St Joseph’s, however Mrs Whale was no stranger to the school community having taught there for nine years in the 1980s.

In between, she taught at Denman and was the assistant principal at St James Primary School in Muswellbrook for four years. 

The busy lady is used to fast pace life growing up in Sydney and studying at the Catholic Teachers College at North Sydney as a young woman. 

Driven to be the best teacher she can, Mrs Whale then completed her degree through the Western Australia College of Advanced Education, and completed a Masters in Educational Leadership through the Australian Catholic University in 2007. 

Mrs Whale said she plans to study something else, but she’s not sure what just yet.

“As my role changes I need to get more skills, as basic teaching qualifications don’t prepare you for this job,” she said. 

 Initially being high school trained, Mrs Whale started her career in Tasmania at Marian College in Launceston before meeting her future husband Mark and moving to Dubbo where she taught at St John’s College, another secondary school, for about five years before moving to the Merriwa district in 1989.

The thriving little school at Merriwa currently has 77 students which is growing each year, and each and every student knows Mrs Whale well as they not only go to school, but are also heavily involved in the community.

This weekend, students and staff are involved in organising the Merriwa Junior Campdraft and Fete  where many children will converge on the Merriwa Showground for a busy weekend of action. 

Students also visit Gummun Place Hostel and the Merriwa District Health Service to interact with the older residents in the community. 

Mrs Whale said she tries to get the students involved in all community events so they can get a feel for what it’s like to be involved. 

“The children take part in the Festival of the Fleeces, Anzac Day march, Christmas Carols and carols door knocking of all the local businesses and  Australia Day, and they’re just some of the things they’re involved in,” she said. 

Through the school and with Mark a very keen community volunteer, Mrs Whale and their three children – Ruth, Zach and Josh – have always been keen players in the Merriwa district. 

When the children were younger they were very involved in the Merriwa Pony Club and Little Athletics. 

More recently, Mrs Whale has been the secretary of the Merriwa Rotary Club for the past five years, where she and others are involved in many projects including installation of the new skate park, new play equipment, shade shelters and other initiatives. 

One aspect of the club Mrs Whale really enjoys is welcoming exchange students to the area each year as it provides great opportunities for the students and also opens up the Merriwa children’s eyes to people from all over the world. 

Mrs Whale said she is often the councillor for the program, but this year is looking forward to welcoming a student as a host and mother. 

She has been a member of the local St Vincent de Paul Society since its inception in the 1990s, where they help people who move to town and suffer from financial stress, or ill people. 

Mrs Whale said the society provides a lot of support to people as there are not a lot of other support agencies in Merriwa. 

The keen giver is also a committee member of the Merriwa Australia Day working committee and has been involved in the Merriwa Business Association. 

When asked what motivates her, Mrs Whale said it is her way of making the world a better place. 

“If we start with the children and educate them to take responsibility in the community then we’re creating a better place. 

“I also don’t want our children to feel they have missed out on anything because they live in a small town,” she said.

“I want them to have just as many opportunities as children in other towns. 

“I love what I do, and I can’t see myself doing anything else,” she said. 

Throughout the years the school has been recognised winning the 2009 Australia Day Environmental Excellence Award, the 2012 Environmental Achievement Award and in 2009 it won the Monsignor Coolahan Award for School Community from the Catholic Schools Office. 

“I’m very proud of the school, we’re quiet achievers and the children are very proud of the school and very conscious of their place in the school and in the community,” Mrs Whale said. 

“We live by our motto that we are lifelong learners with optimism for the future, which is always in the forefront of my mind and I think we are achieving that.”

Like many others, Mrs Whale said she is not the only one who does a lot and she couldn’t do what she does alone. 

“Number one, hats off to my fabulous staff of 11 and the parents of our school who are just excellent and help to achieve the same goals,” she said. 

Speaking on Merriwa, Mrs Whale said she loves the town and feels like its home to her family.

“We support the community, but the community in turn supports us,” she said.