After graduating from university in 2013, his first job interview was for a role at Puckapunyal.
“I went out of the actual interview, and I spoke to my parents afterwards,” he said.
“They said, ‘how’d you go?’ And I was like, ‘yeah, I don’t think I’ll be getting a job there’.
“Ten or 15 minutes after that, Kevin Warne, who was the principal at that time and up until last year, offered me the job.”
After a two-year stint, he moved on to work in Broadford, but it wasn’t long before he returned to the school where it all began.
“I got the opportunity to come back here, and I’ve been here ever since,” he said.
“I’ve taught in the majority of the year levels, but I haven’t been down as low as the Foundation students.”
In 2023, Mr Humphrey realised he needed a change.
And while he thought about travelling across the country to teach, a different opportunity, closer to home, arose.
“I ended up applying to be an acting principal at Tooborac for a term because they were going through some changes there, and I really enjoyed that side of things,” he said.
“So then I came back and expressed to (previous principal) Kevin that I wanted to do a principal course.
“In 2024, I went through that process. I didn’t quite get it at the start, I needed some more experience in some different areas. And then I was lucky enough to shadow a principal in Yea, named Craig Irvine.
“Last year, our principal was going into retirement, so I applied for the acting role for a term, went through the whole process of applying for the substantial role, and now, here I am.”
Having had experience at other schools, which, he said, had shaped his journey as an educator, Mr Humphrey said the differences at Puckapunyal were noticeable.
“(The difference is) working with Defence because we’re a public school on Defence land,” he said.
“Anything you do as a school, you have to have the mindset of working with base management, which are fantastic.
“It’s also the transient nature of the students and families as well because they come from all parts of Australia, so it’s trying to help them understand the differences (in the education system between different states).
“And supporting the students as well, because they’ve just had to pick up everything and move somewhere completely new.”
Mr Humphrey added that, for him, all roads had led back to Puckapunyal because of the support surrounding the school.
“It’s a fantastic school. You get the support of the community and the families,” he said.
“I think that’s the biggest thing, working with the parents and the community.
“The reason why I’ve stayed here for so long is that they really care about their kids and about our staff.”
30°C